Lawtalk 848

15 August 2014 路 848

How up-to-date technology can lift your bottom line

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Contents.

Firms that are genuinely interested in their bottom line should be looking at IT as the main source of the opportunity to improve that figure.

–Ashley Balls, consultant to lawyers

Regulars ..................................................................

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Our Profession, Our People Practising Well

For years and years, conversations about suicide would inevitably include someone in the group saying: “Apparently dentists have the highest suicide rate out of all the professions.” Well not any more. Lawyers have now taken the top position.

Effective practice

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So, how did you get to work on 5 March 2013?

Letter to the Editor

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The red tape wrapped around legal aid.

The bookshelf

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Immigration partnership proposal should not proceed.

Mediation confidentiality needs to be maintained.

How up-to-date technology can lift your bottom line

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Reasonableness of credit fees.

Feature

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Technology can lift your bottom line

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Frank Neill

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LawTalk looks at the importance of keeping up to date with technology, how to go about it and how often you should consider it.

NZLS CLE Ltd upcoming programmes Lawyers Complaints Service Coming up

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Land on competition law Law reform report

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Classified Advertising

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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From the Law Society

Women in the law We have much to celebrate in terms of women in the law in New Zealand as we approach Women’s Equality Day on 26 August. Women’s Equality Day owes its existence to a lawyer, Bella Anzug. In 1971 she introduced legislation in the United States Congress which designated 26 August of each year as Women’s Equality Day. With the recent elevation of Justice Ellen France to President of the Court of Appeal, we now have women serving as head of all the benches in our non-specialist courts. Justice France has joined the Chief Justice, Dame Sian Elias in the Supreme Court, Justice Helen Winkelmann as the Chief High Court Judge and Judge Jan-Marie Doogue as the Chief District Court Judge.

This year marks the first time that all four heads of those benches in New Zealand are women. This is a momentous and significant milestone and, in noting this, it is timely to reflect on both the achievements of women who have been the torchbearers for women in the law today and take a look at how their modern contemporaries are faring.

Two former lawyers have held high office in New Zealand, with Dame Silvia Cartwright serving not only a distinguished judge of both the Family and High Courts but also serving as Governor-General. Margaret Wilson as a noted academic lawyer served as both Attorney-General and Speaker of the House.

New Zealand is well known as the first self-governing country in the world to give women the right to vote when Lord Glasgow signed a new Electoral Act on 19 September 1893. In this respect New Zealand was 25 years ahead of the United States where it was not until 26 August 1920 that the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was signed, with Women’s Equality Day commemorating that.

Just four years after the passing of the Electoral Act, Ethel Benjamin became New Zealand’s first woman lawyer when she was admitted by Justice Williams in 1897 at the High Court in Dunedin. Each year this event is commemorated with the Ethel Benjamin address, organised by the Otago Women Lawyers’ Society (OWLS). Justice Winkelmann will deliver this year’s 18th Annual New Zealand Law Foundation Commemorative Ethel Benjamin Address (at 1pm on 7 November at the Fullwood Room in the Dunedin Centre).

A big event this year is the Women, the Law – and the

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· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

Corner Office Conference. Justice Susan Glazebrook will chair this NZLS CLE organised conference (which will be held in Wellington on 29 October and Auckland on 31 October).

The under representation of women lawyers in senior roles is an issue of concern, not only for women in the profession, but also for the well-being of the profession as a whole. This conference will bring together high achieving people to lead discussion on ways to develop innovative and practical solutions.

This year also marks the inaugural Justice Christine French Commemorative Address, which will become a biennial event organised by the Law Society’s Southland branch.

Justice French, who was born and went to school in Southland, will deliver the first address at 5pm on 18 September at Ascot Park Hotel, Invercargill.

Although there is much to celebrate, the legal profession still has quite some distance to go in terms of women’s equality.

As the recent Auckland Women Lawyers’ Association funded research demonstrated, women are not reaching the top of the profession in the same proportion as they are becoming law school graduates (60%) or being admitted to the Bar (56%).

Some areas of law have a higher proportion of female practitioners. Three quarters of the lawyers who have indicated they undertake primarily family law are female. However, females still only account for 65% of those practising on own account in this area.

The Law Society’s Executive Director Christine Grice pointed out in a recent Radio New Zealand interview that women make up 46% of the profession overall, but only 15% of Queen’s Counsel are women and only 22% are partners in law firms.

In an initiative to raise awareness and discussion regarding women lawyers’ career progression, the Law Society is currently running a project to support the retention of women in the profession.

A portal on the new project is the Women in the Legal Profession section on the Law Society’s website at www. lawsociety.org.nz/about-nzls/women-in-the-legal-profession.

In this section you will find news, information, research, resources, events and organisations of interest to all lawyers, but particularly women lawyers and their employers.

Other activities are also part of this initiative, including: the Women, the Law – and the Corner Office Conference; establishing a network of key partnerships to develop and share information, events and initiatives; and identifying best practice examples and practical advice for lawyers and employers.

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Allan Cooke New Zealand Law Society Family Law Section Chair

News Points LawTalk is published by the New Zealand Law Society for the New Zealand legal profession. It is published fortnightly and has been published since 1974.

LawTalk is sent to every lawyer in New Zealand who holds a current practising certificate. Lawyer numbers change over the year, but range from 11,700 upwards.

LawTalk is also sent to further recipients who include members of the judiciary, Law Society associate members, legal

executives, Members of Parliament, media, academics and others involved in the legal services industry. Total circulation ranges between 12,400 and 12,800 copies.

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If you wish to discard LawTalk please recycle it. The wrapping may be composted.

Established in 1869, the New Zealand Law Society regulates the practice of law in New Zealand and represents the interests of lawyers who choose to be members. The powers and functions of the Law Society are set out in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006. As well as upholding the fundamental obligations imposed on lawyers who provide regulated services, the Law Society is required to assist and promote the reform of the law, for the purpose of upholding the rule of law and facilitating the administration of justice in New Zealand.

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EDITOR Frank Neill · 04 463 2982 editor@lawsociety.org.nz WRITERS Elliot Sim · 04 463 2902 elliot.sim@lawsociety.org.nz Rachael Breckon · 04 463 2910 rachael.breckon@lawsociety.org.nz SENIOR DESIGNER Andrew Jacombs · 04 463 2981 andrew.jacombs@lawsociety.org.nz DESIGNER Daz Yang · 04 463 7837 daz.yang@lawsociety.org.nz ADVERTISING Christine Wilson · 04 463 2905 advertising@lawsociety.org.nz CO M M U N I C AT I O N S M A N AG E R Geoff Adlam · 04 463 2980 geoff.adlam@lawsociety.org.nz PRINTING Lithoprint, Wellington DISTRIBUTION Western Mailing, Lower Hutt ISSN 0114-989X (Print) ISSN 2382-0330 (Online)

Unless it is clearly indicated, the views expressed in LawTalk are not to be taken as those of, or endorsed by, the New Zealand Law Society. No responsibility whatsoever is accepted by the New Zealand Law Society for any opinion, information, or advertisement contained in LawTalk.

Correction and Apology Mr George Hinde’s name was incorrectly listed in LawTalk 847 as having not advised the Law Society that he was not renewing his practising certificate. Mr Hinde had in fact advised the Law Society that he had retired from practice as a barrister.

Gender imbalance The senior judiciary in England and Wales remains dominated by white male barristers, the latest statistics published by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice early this month show.

Among the five heads of division there are no women, individuals from a minority ethnic background or solicitors.

There are eight women judges at the Court of Appeal among the 38 judges on the bench.

Less than a fifth of the High Court judges are women and one in five of the 640 circuit judges is female.

The proportion of women sitting in courts and tribunals (excluding magistrates and non-legal members) stands at 32%.

Marketing Number two on the list of “most read” articles in the ABA Journal when LawTalk went to press was an article entitled 50 simple ways you can market your practice.

“You can spend a lot of money on legal marketing, but you don’t need to,” says the article, available at www.abajournal.com/ magazine/article/50_simple_ways_you_can_ market_your_practice.

“What is necessary for good business development,” say successful lawyers and consultants who shared their strategies with the ABA Journal, “is a marketing plan focused on activities you do well, targeted at the right audience and carried out consistently.”

Among the tips were: contact three to five potential referral sources a week – every week, regardless of how busy you are; if you have a practice-related blog, write posts with information that’s truly useful to business targets ; and attend bar association events – lawyers only refer cases to people they know.

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Up-to-date technology can lift your bottom line

By Frank Neill

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on’t be surprised if next time you walk into a courtroom at least one of the lawyers is working from some sort of portable computing device.

If you are the lawyer who is using a tablet or laptop, you won’t be surprised of course.

Otherwise, what you will be witnessing is a glimpse of the future of law.

Equally, don’t be surprised if somebody undercuts your price for preparing a document such as a lease or a family trust and you discover your competitor still made a healthy margin because they were using technology to help them provide a quality solution. Again, you will be getting a glimpse of the future.

The reality is that in today’s world, technology is always on the move. Information technology is certainly no exception to that rule.

It’s not that long ago when faxes provided

an amazing breakthrough, providing a means of rapid communication not just around New Zealand, but around the world. Emails weren’t available back then, and the keyboard of choice in law firms was attached to an electric typewriter (itself a big advance on its manual counterpart).

Not that long ago, conveyancing included paper registration of a land transfer with Land Information New Zealand. Today it is all completed via e-dealing.

Major changes The fact is that major technological changes have been and are still coming to the legal industry.

The technology for some of these is here already, even though we may consider them something for the future. Take cloud computing for example. It has been around for a while now.

In fact the 2012 AM Law Tech Survey, showed that the number of United States law firms

Device icons by Ben Hsu, cloud icon by Steven Pasterz of The Noun Project.

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using cloud computing had increased 50% over the last year.

So the move by law firms to the cloud is well under way.

Devices such as smart phones, tablets and laptops – with or without a removable touch screen – have also been with us for some time.

Just as law firms had to make the move to e-dealing if they wished to continue to do conveyancing, they would be well advised to keep pace with other developments in information technology.

For some firms or sole practitioners, this will be quite a big jump.

Urgent upgrade needed Some, indeed, are still using Windows XP, despite Microsoft no longer supporting this operating system, making it more vulnerable to security risks, viruses and malware.

With estimates that as many as 30% of computers worldwide have Windows XP, it is likely that many hundreds of New Zealand law firms are still running the system.

Analysis of visits to the New Zealand Law Society’s website show that in the month to 30 July, 18% were from people using Windows XP. A smaller proportion of visits to my.lawsociety Lawyers and law (where visitors are mainly firms should look lawyers) – nearly 11% – were at upgrading their from Windows XP users.

IT system every The fact that these figures three years, says are down from 24% and 17% legal consultant respectively from April, Ashley Balls. “And when Microsoft stopped that causes raised supporting Windows XP is Ashley Balls eyebrows every encouraging. time I mention it, because firms are The actual number of doing it every 10 or 15 years at the lawyers still using Windows moment,” he says.

XP at their place of work may “Inland Revenue is my biggest friend well be higher, however. The in this, because Inland Revenue allows experience of Brad Booysen, you to depreciate IT over three years.

CEO of software develop“So if Inland Revenue has worked ment company Storkk, would out that after three years it is worthsuggest it may be. less, you have to assume that is based When his firm launched the on nothing but pure pragmatism. first version of Storkk – Con“It is worthless after three years. tinuing Professional DevelIt is throw-away equipment. opment tracking software “Firms should have a capital for the legal industry – about management policy that includes 8 months ago about half of not only how often is the partner going its law firm clients were to replace his or her car, but also how still using Windows XP and often are you going to replace your hardware and, while you’re at it, let’s look at the software,” Mr Balls says.

How often should you upgrade?

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Internet Explorer 8.

For Windows XP users, upgrading is urgent.

For all other lawyers and law firms there are a number of very powerful reasons to ensure that your information technology resources continue to be fit for purpose.

Improve your bottom line Perhaps the most persuasive reason to have an up-to-date, state-of-the-art system is that it can help lawyers and law firms improve their profits, according to legal consultant Ashley Balls. The founding director of legal consultancy Legal Best Practice, Mr Balls has been providing consultancy on IT to law firms for many years.

“Firms that are genuinely interested in their bottom line should be looking at IT as the main source of the opportunity to improve that figure,” Mr Balls says.

The typical New Zealand law firm is now facing demands for lower prices and, in the main, has been getting them, he points out. At the same time, costs are continuing to go up.

“The only way to make money in the present climate, and I don’t see it changing, is to increase productivity.

“Yet most firms are unaware of what productivity gains are available from IT.” In firms that are using IT in a smart way “I am seeing productivity gains being experienced significantly,” Mr Balls says.

These gains can be garnered in a number of ways. One is through effective use of good, modern practice management software. Another is by commodisation.

Practice management software A good example of smart use of practice management software was provided by a small firm. It was set up by a partner who had broken away from a big firm and established the new enterprise with a small staff which included lawyers.

He purchased a modern, state-of-art practice management system.

When the young firm’s overdraft was not reducing as it was expected to, the firm called in Mr Balls. He evaluated the firm’s performance and identified a “huge” debtor problem which they were not managing.

The practice management system was able to provide the data needed to manage debtors, but this then needed to be implemented.

Having identified the problem and put a solution in place, the lawyer contacted Mr Balls four weeks later to say that the overdraft had

halved. Not only that, but the lawyer predicted that the firm would have no overdraft at all in another six weeks.

Like other technology, practice management software becomes outdated with time. If you have had your software in place for some time, it is quite likely that it is not providing the level of capability lawyers and firms need as they move into the future.

Another good reason for firms with dated software to consider upgrading is that the pricing structure has changed as well.

Whereas historically there used to be an “horrendous” up-front cost, today there was a relatively modest up-front cost together with an ongoing fixed monthly charge based on usage, Mr Balls says.

Take advantage of commoditisation When Mr Balls uses the word “commoditisation”, he is referring to taking a “bespoke” legal service – that has been provided from scratch (or virtually from scratch) by a lawyer – and instead using a template approach as a base for developing the service.

Taking a trust as an example, Mr Balls explains it this way: “The core of every trust is the same.

So why wouldn’t you start with a template and then populate it with the discrete and unique needs of the end user?”

A fee for a bespoke development of a discretionary family trust would be in the $3,500 to $5,000 range.

“If you’re using the right piece of software, the costs of doing that can be reduced to under a grand when you commoditise it,” he says. And the client will never be able to see the difference.

What are the five things lawyers and law firms should consider?

1 2 Look to technology to improve productivity.

Make sure the practice management system is modern and that it meets the practice’s needs going into the future.

3 4 5

Evaluate the hardware and software needs going into the future.

Embrace enterprise mobility.

Ensure the highest practical level of security. That will mean always running the latest versions of software, employing data encryption and selecting the most appropriate encryption, and exercising diligence about passwords and using different passwords for different services.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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It is the same with many other things such as conveyancing and leases. “Even with matrimonial, the core elements are now being done electronically, yet a lot of firms are still doing it on a bespoke basis.

“Commoditisation of legal services is here. It is growing and it is growing apace.

“In New Zealand we are over-lawyered, but we are even more over-lawyered when you think that some of the lawyer function can be done electronically.”

Commoditisation features in research Commodisation features in a 31 July media release about the recent 2014 Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA)/LexisNexis research entitled “Impact of the Changing Legal Landscape on Australasian Law Firms”.

“The traditional law firm model has been built around billing clients for time spent on a matter. But client sophistication is growing and this, combined with the commoditisation of legal services and a plethora of legal providers increasing competition, means that clients no longer have to accept the status quo,” ALPMA President Andrew Barnes said.

“Law firms need to work harder at understanding what represents value to their customers, ensure they can clearly differentiate their service offering from the next firm and price their services accordingly,” he said.

Increasing price pressure and customer demands for better value is the number one factor driving change in Australasian law firms, the research found.

Implementation What, then, should lawyers and firms be doing to evaluate where they are now and where they should be going with IT? The first question to ask is whether you actually need to upgrade at the moment.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to help determine the answer: Is your practice management software providing you a modern, efficient service? Practice management software has come a considerable way in a relatively short time. Have you checked recently to see what practice management systems are available and what they can do for you? Have you checked on the latest upgrade of the software you have? If you are a litigator, for example, your system will need – among other things – a library, precedents management

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•

• •

and case management. Do you have all the modern tools at your disposal?

Are you or your employees spending more time trying to accomplish tasks? For instance, does it seem to take longer to launch applications on a given PC? Has the network grown sluggish at handling routine traffic? If so, it’s probably time to consider upgrading.

Is your business planning to use powerful new applications? If you’re planning to install programs that are processor or memory intensive, it’s likely your PCs will need to be upgraded.

Have you added, or are you planning to add, more users to your network? If so, it might be time to consider upgrading the storage capacity and/or memory of your shared office server, or upgrading other network-related equipment.

Needs analysis Having determined that you may or that you do need to upgrade, the next step – according to many advisors – is to undertake a needs analysis.

Most systems providers are happy to facilitate a needs analysis, and the advantage of that is that it is already effectively built into the cost of the hardware and software.

There is, however, a down side. What you are actually starting with is a computer sales person, and their focus will be on the sale and outlining the benefits of what they are selling.

An independent consultant, on the other hand, will cost you money, but will be focused on really looking at the wish list of a firm and then, using their expert knowledge of what is available in both the hardware and software markets, distilling the wish list into a needs list, with recommendations as to how those can be met.

Most of the time, this will be budget controlled.

The new system Having conducted the needs analysis, the next step will be to make the decision about what hardware and software is needed.

Many consultants will have some good news when it comes to hardware. The days of spending many thousands of dollars on servers has gone.

“Firms don’t need servers,” Mr Balls says.

“The internet does away with that.

“It could be on the cloud, or it could be on a known local server, and companies do provide servers that are located in New Zealand.

“I think people should get their servers off-site,

because the moment you have servers on site, you have huge risks.”

What would happen, for example, if the building should burn down? Or what would happen in a major disaster such as a flood or an earthquake. “ The number of firms that got in deep doggy do in Christchurch following the [22 February 2011] earthquake was quite significant.”

Security issues Whichever option you use, Storkk’s Brad Booysen says, there are security issues.

That includes the more traditional hardware sitting in a back room – and there are some smart options around that.

At the same time, it is relatively easy for that to be compromised. It could be hacked. You could have a disgruntled employee who walks out with your client database in his pocket, for example.

And like Mr Balls, Mr Booysen points to the threat of such events as fire, a break-in or a disaster.

“These are all real threats that you don’t have with cloud-based software.”

Not only that, but most of the cloud service providers he knows now use bank-grade security.

It wasn’t that long ago that security was raised as an issue about internet banking, he points out.

Whatever system you have – whether your own servers, the cloud or a dedicated server in New Zealand – security will be an important part of your IT solution.

Another thing Mr Balls is advising firms “is that you need at least two screens per person – one to work on and one for communications”.

Although that recommendation can be met with some surprise or even scepticism at first “once you show people it operating like that, they get it,” he says. “You can move 60-year-olds onto a twin screen system with ease once they’ve grasped what it’s for.”

Keep the future in mind Another important consideration when making decisions on an IT upgrade is what are the known cutting edge developments or known developments that are just around the corner.

The two major current developments, Mr Booysen says, are BYOD use and biometric identification.

BYOD, which stands for “bring your own device”, refers to the use in a workplace of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, iPads and computers (see Why BYOD is important on page X).

“The next big revolution – and we are already seeing it with the new iPhone – is that we will have biometric security built in.”

Biometric security uses a physical feature of the user, something that is unique to the person, such as a fingerprint.

Mr Booysen himself has an iPhone 5 and he can open it using the fingerprint scanner.

Payment providers like PayPal are already creating their own apps that are, for example, using fingerprint scanners, he says.

Those with some reservations had asked him if people could get into the system by cutting off a user’s finger and using it. Well, the answer is they cannot. The scanning software needs to establish it is a live finger, by being able to detect a pulse, for example.

“I think more and more biometric security will become a bigger thing in the future and that will be a big thing for lawyers.

“I suspect within the next 12 to 24 months, you are going to see a lot of that coming through.”

Electronic discovery Another development may come in the field of electronic discovery, if a prediction Mr Balls is making does come about.

“How long is it going to be before the courts require all discovery to be electronic?” he asks.

“It can’t be long, and when it does it’s going to leave some firms in deep doggy do, because they won’t have the capacity for it.”

And a move to compulsory e-discovery could come “within two to three years,” he suggests.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Why BYOD is important

BY BRAD BOOYSEN

With mobile devices becoming less expensive and more accessible, there has been an increase in people wanting to bring their own devices to work.

This trend has been called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and although hailed as being beneficial for workplaces, the idea of outside technology being brought into a firm has also worried others in terms of security.

So why is this phenomenon important? Well, because this is the future of business technology.

It has been predicted that in 10 years’ time the majority of workplaces will have BYOD policies

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and that companies themselves will provide very little technology.

It’s time to get informed, so without further ado, here are the main advantages and disadvantages of BYOD.

Advantages One of the major advantages of a BYOD strategy is increased employee satisfaction. Do not underestimate this advantage and its affect on the bottom line as the increasing work flexibility that BYOD allows often equates to a higher quality of work.

This is because when employees feel they are not confined to their desks or workplace hours

in order to get a task or project done, they are less stressed and are able to think more clearly.

The barriers between work and home life are increasingly blurred by technology and people like to work at times that suit other areas of their lives, for example in the evening after the kids are in bed.

Another big advantage of BYOD is the cost savings. With less spent on hardware; software licensing and maintenance required by internal IT departments, it’s a no brainer that your firm will save money.

And finally, improving productivity is another key benefit. Studies have shown that people are generally happier and able to work faster when using their own devices.

Disadvantages While the above may sound like a dream come true, the issue of accessing corporate data on personal devices can have many negative implications. For example, what if someone’s personal device is stolen? Or threatened by a virus or hacker? Because of these issues, firms need to set rules about how much data is allowed to be accessed via personal devices in order to balance the above advantages with the possibility of a security threat.

One of the primary security concerns for firms is the possible occurrence of a BYOD being lost or stolen. The risk associated with this is obvious: sensitive information can be compromised or lost all together.

More importantly, however, is the fact that it is often not possible for employees to understand the security risk when they open applications on unmanaged BYODs. When data, such as the information contained in emails, is retrieved and opened on a BYOD it does not necessarily undergo the same rigid filtering and security measures that it would being sent to a business computer.

For the same reason, BYODs are also more prone to viruses and malware. A seemingly logical solution to this problem would be to use the same protection on BYODs that is applied to corporate devices. However, many businesses that have tried run into problems concerning personal privacy. No employee wants to feel like their company is watching them via their phone or tablet once they have left the office.

Steering away from security, another disadvantage of BYOD is that although there may be cost savings for some companies, others may find that setting up the systems to allow multiple devices to function can be more expensive than sticking with internal technologies.

The key to successfully introducing BYOD into

your firm is to develop a BYOD policy.

BYOD policy Like any new company initiative, only when there are procedures in place to manage BYOD can the outcome be safe and cost effective for all involved. Employees should not be allowed to suddenly bring their own devices into the workplace. It is important that strategies are put in place in order to manage the change and

Only when there are procedures in place to manage BYOD can the outcome be safe and cost effective.” that all the pros and cons have been considered.

Important factors to consider when creating a BYOD policy are: 1. Outlining the types of devices that will be allowed and establishing a strict security policy for them. It is very important that employees are clear on what devices the business will support – for example Apple or Android – as well as implementing a strong password system to protect the corporate data they will be accessing on their devices.

2. Ensure employees are aware of support available to them should any issues arise.

3. Clearly outline who owns what data in relation to applications and information.

4. Finally, make sure your BYOD policy works alongside other online strategies your firm may have in place and have a plan for what will happen if an employee using a BYOD leaves the company.

In summary, BYOD can have a positive impact on your business. The disadvantages mentioned above only occur when a BYOD policy has not been planned and implemented properly.

Brad Booysen is the CEO and founder of Storkk (www.storkk.com), a New Zealand based company that’s helping lawyers and firms take control of their professional development. He is passionate about technology and how it can transform the way we work and play.

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Photo by Dave Herholz

New system more efficient in every way DAC Beachcroft New Zealand is in the process of completely changing its IT systems.

The New Zealand firm is part of an international legal business group with more than 2,200 people across the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America.

With offices in Auckland and Wellington, the New Zealand firm is currently logging onto servers based in the United Kingdom.

This leads to quite a time lag, the firm’s practice manager Tessa Ambler says. Even for something like pressing the print button, the instruction needs to go to the United Kingdom and back again before the printer kicks into action.

And because of the time zone difference, it is also quite restrictive in terms of IT support.

So the firm decided, in a bid to make its IT more efficient for both its authors and all other staff, to completely upgrade its system. The first step it took was to conduct some research. From that, it identified three key players in the legal practice management system market.

It then began trialling one, but this did not turn out to suit the firm’s business.

“So we then did what we should have done in the beginning,” Ms Ambler says.

“We engaged an external consultant.”

Needs analysis The consultant, Ashley Balls, conducted a needs analysis, which included a staff

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survey completed by every staff member.

That needs analysis asked staff “all sorts of questions we wouldn’t have thought about.”

It proved a valuable process as “you have got to make sure all your staff are supportive,” Ms Ambler says. It allowed staff to be involved in the process of selecting the hardware and the practice management software, which gave them some ownership of the new IT system.

Following the needs analysis, Mr Balls came back with recommendations and then helped the firm make the final choice.

What they selected was a completely separate system from the United Kingdombased servers, although they will still be able to log on to the UK system. The new system is due to go live in October.

The practice management software the firm has selected is Infinity Law. When it came to the hardware, the choice was between having a server in the firm’s office or having a third party hosting a server.

They opted for being hosted on third party server, based at the Fujitsu data centre in Auckland.

They chose this option because “it is more economical and it is more reliable as well”, and the reason for that is that you are getting “the most up to date system and security and everything for effectively a rented price,” Ms Ambler says.

“Everything is going cloud-based, so we wanted to make sure that we picked a system that allowed us to log on and work

from anywhere. Everything will be on the server, accessible securely from anywhere.”

Disaster recovery By being offsite and backed up, the new system will also provide DAC Beachcroft the ability to be up and running rapidly in the aftermath of an event such as a fire or natural disaster.

“It really became apparent after the Christchurch earthquakes just how many law firms and other businesses were affected and couldn’t go in and get their paperwork and things like that. Having [the server] at different locations reduces the risk.”

In terms of selecting the service provider, Ms Ambler advises selecting a firm that is reliable and one that is providing the most up-to-date system.

“We wanted to make sure that whatever system we were moving onto, the product that it put out was meeting or exceeding the international standards.”

One of the things the firm also wanted the new system to provide was the ability to bring up any documents a lawyer may need while in court. It does this.

It also has a mobile time recording app so people can use a smart phone to record time, whether in or out of the office, enhancing the accuracy of that process. And they are just two of the advantages.

The new system promises to be “more efficient in every single way,” Ms Ambler says. “It will also help people to work smarter.”

Replacing Small Business Server East Auckland firm David Rooke Law specialises predominantly in property, commercial, family law and civil litigation.

David Rooke is also a member of the Law Society’s Family Law Section and Property Law Section.

David Rooke approached XSYS IT to provide recommendations to replace their ageing Microsoft Small Business Server. The new solution had to meet their business infrastructure needs now and in the future.

The challenge The challenge was to provide a cost effective solution to replace David Rooke Law’s existing Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 and Windows XP desktop infrastructure, which was coming to end-of-life and would not be supported by Microsoft beyond April 2014.

David Rooke Law also had another existing server that housed their practice management software (PM). Consideration also had to be given to potentially implementing different practice management software solutions in the future.

The solution Based on discussions between David Rooke Law and XSYS IT, two solutions

were proposed.

The first option was a fully virtualised server platform running VMware’s virtualisation software, which would host one new virtual PM server plus one new virtual SBS 2011 (the final version of this very popular all-in-one server package to be released

by Microsoft).

The second option was to deliver a new server to host SBS 2011 and to upgrade the existing PM server with additional hardware to accommodate a future in-place upgrade to the latest version of the PM software.

Both solutions included a disaster recovery solution, which provided David Rooke Law with a known recovery path in the event of any unforeseen disaster.

David Rooke Law decided to implement the second option which allowed them to continue to utilise some of their existing hardware.

Results XSYS IT delivered and installed a new IBM server running SBS 2011 and upgraded the existing PM server to accommodate the latest version of the PM software. All Windows XP PCs were replaced with new clients running Windows 7 Professional.

The solution has provided David Rooke Law with modern state-of-the-art hardware with increased reliability and functionality.

“I am very happy with the solution that XSYS IT have implemented,” David Rooke says. “The previous server was outdated and was starting to show its age. With Microsoft not supporting it any more, and with a continued and deeper dependency on our network services, I know we now have a reliable network. I like dealing with XSYS as they know what they are doing and are able to respond quickly to my inquiry on any issues that arise and keep me informed on hardware and software updates as they are needed.”

Virtualisation In a nutshell, where previously you would have multiple in-house servers running different applications – for example an accounts server, a small business server, a practice management server – with virtualisation you have a single physical server, which houses all the above servers virtually, this is then backed up onto an internal hard drive, which is then copied off to external hard drives and taken off site.

Encryption — Look before you leap

BY R A C H A E L B R EC KO N Lawyers should seek high quality, unbiased advice relating to their IT function before encrypting their client’s data, managing director of Mercury IT Peter Macleod says.

He advises people to approach encryption with caution and says it is not a not one-size fits all solution.

This comes after NSA Whistle-blower Edward Snowden said in an interview with The Guardian that professionals, including lawyers, were failing in their obligations to their clients, sources, patients and parishioners in protecting their client’s information.

Mr Snowden also recommended all information be encrypted. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “encrypt” as to “convert (information or data) into a code, especially to prevent unauthorised access”.

Mr Macleod, however, advises lawyers to use legal and professional networks to find out how other firms, sole practitioners and professional services firms manage client privacy and information systems.

“There is an awful lack of objective comment from people.

“People are out there to sell their own product and they often lose sight that the best sale is the one that is in the interest of the customer,” he says.

Encryption is, undoubtedly, a good tool to keep information secure. But, the level of security needed by an organisation needs to correlate with risk. Unsurprisingly, the stronger the encryption the more computing resources an organisation needs, so the greater the cost.

According to Mr Macleod, lawyers and

firms need to assess the desirability of their clients’ information, and whether their level of data security meets client expectations.

It is also important to remember that anything coded can be un-coded, and even the strongest encryption has been hacked Mr Macleod says.

If the information is of a commercially sensitive or internationally sensitive nature it may be more important to consider physical storage, rather than encryption.

Mr Macleod says if the information is that important, perhaps rather than putting the information in a digital space, put it in a physical safe.

“The skills of safe breaking are declining, and the skills in computer hacking are rising,” he says.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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1 0 H A N D Y A P P L I C AT PDF EXPERT This app lets you mark up PDF files from your iPad. You can import documents from email, Dropbox, iCloud, Google Docs, or other iPad applications. You can search text, highlight, underline, and strike through. It also lets you add bookmarks, freehand drawings, and comments.

You can fill in PDF forms and apply signatures to PDF files.

$12.99 iOS 7.0 or later

TRIALPAD Case organiser and trial presentation software, TrialPad lets you access documents, play videos, and annotate or zoom in on evidence during a trial. You can highlight, redact or add exhibit stickers to documents and create reports of all your evidence with the exhibit numbers. You can import documents via Dropbox, email, iTunes, Photos, or a variety of other iPad apps.

$114.99 iOS 7.0 or later

KEY NOTE This app lets you create presentations as well as view and edit both Keynote ’09 and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. You can import files via email, the web, iCloud, a WebDAV service or iTunes. It synchronizes via iCloud, allowing all your devices to stay up to date. You can export the presentation to Keynote or PowerPoint or as a PDF file.

$12.99 iOS 7.0 or later

EVERNOTE Evernote makes it easy to remember things big and small from your everyday life using your computer, phone, tablet and the web. With Evernote, all of your notes, web clips, files and images are made available on every device and computer you use.

Free iOS 7.0 or later Also on Android

CI RCU S PO NIES NOTEB OOK A note-management system with a variety of features. You can use it to record meetings and lectures and automatically sync them to your notes. You can store related documents in your notes or clip contents from other apps directly into your notebooks. Notebook also has an indexing and search system.

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· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

Free iOS 6.0 or later

All apps listed are available from the iOS App Store for Apple iPads. The first generation iPad (released January 2010, discontinued March 2011) is only able to have its operating system updated to iOS 5.1.1, so will not be able to run apps listed here which require a newer OS version. All other models of iPad are able to be updated to iOS 7, the latest version.

I O N S FO R L AW Y E R S NOT ES PLU S

Free iOS 5.1 or later

A note-taking app that lets lawyers use a stylus or their fingertips to write notes. You can use the integrated iPad keyboard if you want to type notes as well. You can later export individual pages or entire notebooks as PDF files through email or Dropbox. The app also lets you record voice notes embedded within your written notes.

LO GMEI N

$12.99

This app allows lawyers access to files on their desktop anywhere they can find an internet connection. LogMeIn is available on the iPhone as well. LogMeIn can also synchronize with Dropbox, Google Docs, Box.net, and Microsoft SkyDrive.

iOS 5.0 or later Also on Android

D R AGO N D I C TAT I O N

Free iOS 4.0 or later Also on Android

Nuance created this voice-recognition app. It is cloud based, so you will need to be connected to the internet.

Normally with Dragon software you would spend some time after installation training the application to recognise your speech. Dragon Dictation does not require any initial training and is surprisingly accurate from the moment it is installed.

D RO PBOX

Free iOS 7.0 or later Also on Android

An file-sharing program for synchronizing desktop and portable devices. The app is tied to your Dropbox account, which allows users up to 2 GB of free storage. However, Dropbox does not allow users to encrypt files before sharing, and doing so will violate their terms of service, so it is not recommended for storing privileged or confidential information.

C A MSC A NNER

Free All prices listed are New Zealand Dollars, inclusive of GST.

iOS 5.0 or later

An app that lets you scan and digitise a document by taking its picture. You can then turn them into PDF files.

CamScanner lets you upload your documents at Dropbox, Google Docs, Box.net, and CamScanner.net, the app developer’s cloud storage service. This means you can share the document with designated people.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Our Profession, Our People Law firms and practitioners are invited to send in announcements of appointments, promotions, retirements or other information for this column. Submissions may be sent to editorial.lawtalk@lawsociety.org.nz. If possible, please include colour photographs of any persons mentioned.

Image files should ideally be print resolution of 300dpi, and must be a minimum of 500 pixels wide for headshots, 2000 pixels wide for group shots. You can find the dimensions of an image in Windows by right clicking on an image file, going to ‘Properties’, and clicking on ‘Details’, or on a Mac by right clicking on the image file in the Finder and clicking ‘Get Info’. JPEG or TIFF formats are acceptable, BMP or GIF are unacceptable. If digital files are unavailable, hardcopy photographic prints of minimum 10cm x 15cm may be sent to LawTalk, DX SP20202 or PO Box 5041, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145. We will endeavour to return hardcopy photographs, provided a return address is included.

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· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

P E O P L E I N T H E L AW A further 14 litigation experts have been appointed to the Pro-Bono Panel of Prosecutors for SPCA Auckland. This brings the total number of active panel members to 32.

Anita Killeen The new appointments are: Deb Bell, Steve Bonnar QC, Tiffany Cooper, Marc Corlett, Paul Dacre QC, Peter Davey, Christine Gordon QC, Stephen Hunter, Gareth Kayes, Raewyn McCausland, Simon Mount, John Upton QC, Natalie Walker, and David Williams QC. The panel’s purpose is to help fight the high incidence of abuse against animals in New Zealand. Each panel member takes prosecution cases at no charge for SPCA Auckland. Auckland Barrister Anita Killeen, who chairs the panel, established it in 2009. In announcing the appointment of the new panel members Ms Killeen stated: “One of the SPCA’s objectives is for greater deterrence and denunciation for those offenders who have been prosecuted for the more serious cases of cruelty against animals. In establishing and maintaining a Pro-Bono Panel of Prosecutors for the SPCA Auckland with significant depth and breadth of litigation experience we can continue to ensure that animal welfare prosecutions are put to the court in the most effective and appropriate manner. I would like to thank all of the Pro-Bono Panel members for the significant contribution they make

to the maintenance of the rule of law and to animal welfare in New Zealand”.

Judge Peter Spiller has been appointed the new chair of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. He succeeds Judge Carolyn Wainwright, who recently resigned. The Tribunal is an independent body established to hear appeals and applications regarding residence class visas, deportation (including appeals on the facts and humanitarian grounds) and claims for recognition as a refugee or as a protected person. Judge Spiller has extensive experience in the tribunals environment having served as a Disputes Tribunal Referee from 1991 to 2005 and then as the Principal Disputes Referee from 2005 to 2010. He was appointed to the District Court Bench in 2009. Judge Spiller was previously Professor of Law at Waikato University and has written extensively on legal history and legal biography. His appointment will be for a five-year term from 1 August.

Auckland lawyer Lyn Lim has been appointed to the board of Public Trust. She will replace retiring board member Rodger Finlay. Ms Lim has a wide ranging practice that includes estate management, trusts and property, and also encompasses commercial law at a corporate level. Ms Lim’s other board roles include being a member of the Council of AUT, New Zealand Shareholders’ Association, Auckland Regional Facilities Amenities Funding Board and deputy chair of the ASB Community Trust.

Failure to properly fund the courts undermines the rule of law, while the inability to pay for legal representation or advice undermines the capacity of most people to enforce their rights effectively.

— Law Council of Australia submission to the Australian Productivity Commission’s inquiry into access to justice arrangements

Our Profession · Our People

Young lawyer committed to social change

By Rachael Breckon Young lawyer David Tong spreads himself across a plethora of different causes. Perhaps unsurprisingly one which he feels very passionate about is ensuring children make the most of their gifts.

A former trustee of the Gifted Education Centre, he is now the chair of the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education, born from the recent merger of Gifted Kids and the Gifted Education Centre.

Mr Tong was a scholarship student at King’s Prep School. So he knows first-hand what it is like to excel at an early age, but he distinguishes himself from the children who benefit from the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education.

The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education helps children whose schools are not meeting their educational needs.

“I was lucky to go to a series of great schools,” he says. A number of the Centre’s students have high intelligence but also behavioural difficulties.

He uses the example of a student with an IQ of 168 but who also has both dyslexia and ADHD, so the normal classroom environment doesn’t meet their needs.

“The kid is going off the rails but is very, very bright,” he says.

It is especially important for low decile schools without the resources to cope with bright, but time consuming children, he says.

Mr Tong’s day job is firmly based in the community, as a solicitor at the Auckland Community Law Centre. He is also completing a Master’s degree at Auckland University, looking at the Treaty currently being negotiated to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

On top of that he is trustee and chair at the P3 Foundation, a New Zealand-based movement of young people with the vision “to see the end of extreme poverty within our generation”.

The P3 foundation has aided development projects in India, Burma, Indonesia and Tonga.

He is also a trustee of the Vegan Society and founding co-chair of the Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Lawyers Association.

Asked what motivates him to put so much effort into the community and human rights

law, he credits two things.

One was a pivotal experience as a teenager.

On a Kung Fu trip to Maccau, he crossed the border to Zhuhai in mainland China, where homeless young women traversing the red light district tried to pass babies to the visitors. It was then Mr Tong realised the real effects of extreme poverty and lack of legal protection.

Mr Tong says he has big shoes to full because his father, Richard Tong, who worked for the Devenport Borough Council, was one of the driving forces behind the introduction of recycling schemes in the 1970s.

“Concerns for the environment and the less privileged has been how I was raised from a small child,” he says.

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Our Profession · Our People

Law firm news Simpson Grierson was awarded the Silver Award at the inaugural YWCA Equal Pay Awards announced in Auckland on 23 July. The firm was one of two winners of a silver award. Simpson Grierson “is clearly making leaps and bounds towards equal pay and has already put several systems in place to reduce the gender pay gap,” the award citation states. “Having conducted in-depth analysis of pay equity within their organisation, Simpson Grierson has examined everyone from legal and support staff to those at the executive level. Results of their analysis have shown that there is equitable remuneration across most roles – a fantastic result – and they have put in place clear strategic plans for women to have equal access to promotions going forward. The [judging] panel [has] recognised Simpson Grierson’s willingness to go out on a limb – a courageous and innovative approach, especially for a company in the field of law.”

“Simpson Grierson is totally committed to diversity,” the firm’s HR Director Jo Copeland says. “Our people are top notch and we pay them accordingly. It’s that simple really.”

Christchurch law firm Clark Boyce Lawyers moved back to the CBD on 24 July, with a new location on Durham St. Originally established in 1953, the firm was located on Victoria Street when the February 2011 earthquake struck, and they were forced to shift to a temporary premises in Burnside.

Returning to the city was a very significant move, Clark Boyce partner Allister Davis says. “We had a team of 20 people working together in a 110 square metre space for three years. It was testing for all of us but we managed to get through it and retain all of our staff – and even increased the team by two.” Mr Davis says the uncertainty and temporary nature of the last three years has been challenging. “Getting the firm up and running within seven days of the earthquake was an achievement. The Ministry of Justice and the profession were working together, running courts from all manner of places including family court sessions at a tennis club, mediations at a hotel, civil courts at Riccarton Racecourse and criminal courts within the prison – continuing legal services in the face of adversity was a major achievement across the legal profession.” Since the February 2011 earthquake, the legal profession has shown “incredible resilience,” Mr Davis says. “Now on a daily basis we are dealing with some very complex issues, particularly

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around insurance. We are bringing landmark cases and the courts are making landmark decisions. Our firm is very proud to be a part of the Canterbury-Westland branch of the New Zealand Law Society.”

Hobsonville Points Schools) and advised on the Transmission Gully PPP project. Chris is a corporate and commercial specialist.

He is experienced in advising on mergers and acquisitions, including private equity investments, shareholder and joint venture agreements, general corporate matters and

Three former Russell McVeagh partners have joined forces to form the new Auckland office of Anderson Lloyd, one of the South Island’s largest law firms. From Monday 28 July Geoff Busch, Chris Bargery and David Holden have led a primarily transactionsfocused practice, concentrating on The three lawyers who have formed the new Auckland office of Anderson Lloyd (from left) David Holden, Geoff Busch and Chris Bargery. corporate, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, infrastructure and a wide variety of commercial contracts. public private partnerships (PPPs). These specialisations will be complemented by the strengths of the wider firm in environmental, planning and natural resources; corporate and commercial; property; insurance; energy; agribusiness and irrigation. All three partners have worked offshore. Geoff is a banking and finance specialist, with particular experience in acquisition finance, project (including PPP) Matt Hay Michelle Williams finance, corporate finance, property finance, and structured asset finance. David is an Matt Hay and Michelle Williams have infrastructure and construction specialist. set up Succeed Legal, a new WellingtonHas worked in New Zealand and the United based law fi rm specialising in advising Kingdom advising on social and economic family owned businesses, trustees, private infrastructure, power generation and conindividuals and not-for-profit organisations struction projects. With particular experience on a range of business, trust and property in PPPs, he led the legal team advising the law matters. Matt is a former partner and successful consortia on the two pathfinder Michelle a former senior associate at DLA New Zealand PPP projects (Wiri Prison and Phillips Fox.

Our Profession · Our People

Legal executive graduates celebrate successes The New Zealand Law Society Waikato Bay of Plenty Branch and the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives held two functions to celebrate the achievements of the legal executives graduating with the New Zealand Law Society Legal Executive Diploma.

Rotorua, Tauranga and Gisborne legal executives were presented with their diplomas at Craigs Investment Partners on 2 July. Nathan Smith presented the diplomas to 15 graduates. Mr Smith is a member of the branch Council and a Tauranga-based barrister.

The Hamilton graduation ceremony was held on Thursday 12 June in the Waikato Bay of Plenty Branch boardroom. New Zealand Law Society, Wintec Business School and New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives representatives and staff attended.

At the Tauranga legal executives graduation ceremony (front from left) Andre Hinz, Philip Rothery, Frederick Jansen van Rensburg, Melanie Hartwell, Sarah Dewhurst, Rachel Palmer, Rititia Karaka, and Apryl Bellette.

On stairs (left to right): Julia Hole, Natasha Ogilvy, Pritika Nand, Joanne McLennan, Rachel Finau, Melissa Cox and Joany Casey.

Wairarapa dinner

The 62nd annual Wairarapa Bar Dinner will be held in the Greytown Town Hall at 7pm on Friday 22 August. The guest speaker will be the former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand. For more information and to register, email mark.h@wcmlegal.co.nz.

At the Hamilton legal executives graduation ceremony (from left) Jenny Gilmour (NZILE Past President), Naioli Pratt (graduate), Michelle Way (NZILE), Andrea Lilley (graduate), Kerry Burroughs (Waikato Bay of Plenty Branch President), Joanne James (team manager Business School WINTEC), Johan Niemand and Marie McLeod (branch Council members).

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Our Profession · Our People

Students working on real cases New Zealand law students are now working on real cases. Two universities, Canterbury and Waikato, are providing students these opportunities.

The Canterbury students are helping Christchurch barrister Nigel Hampton QC and Wellington lawyer Simon Meikle with prosecutions relating to a number of alleged forestry safety violations leading to deaths.

Mr Hampton is assisting pro-bono in four cases against forestry companies for safety violations and is leading Council of Trade Unions’ prosecutions against logging contractors.

“It’s great to get University of Canterbury law student support,” Mr Hampton says.

“They will prepare full timelines, setting out and highlighting factual issues along the

First AYL soccer tourney The New Zealand Law Society’s Auckland Young Lawyers held their first ever soccer tournament on 24 July. The AYL Futsal tournament was a great success.

Six teams gathered at the University of Auckland recreation centre to play for the NZLS AYL Futsal championship.

China (Fortune Manning), South Korea (Queen City Law), Italy (Metro Law), Netherlands (Chapman Tripp), Croatia (Auckland Transport) and Mexico (EMA) all competed against each other. After some close games South Korea, Italy, Netherlands and Croatia went through to the semi-final.

Eventually Italy and South Korea competed for the championship. South Korea was the winning team with Italy second and South Korea third. Italy also won the prize for the best dressed team.

Top: The winning team at the inaugural AYL Futsal tournament (from left) Max Shin, Tina Hwang, Hazel Dillon, Tom Huang, John Jon, James Lee and Young Hwan Mo from Queen City Law. Bottom: The best dressed team at the AYL tournament (from left) Ryan Ainsworth, Mac Chapman, Melanie Nunns, Briar McKenna, Hugo Clark, Andy De Graaf and Jeremy Caughey from Metro Law.

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particular line and assisting research into relevant statute and case law. The assistance of the law students will be invaluable from my perspective.”

Canterbury law students have also begun volunteering their time, as part of the programme in collaboration with national organisation Law For Change New Zealand, to help Christchurch residents take court action against the Earthquake Commission (EQC).

And Waikato University students will have the chance to work on real cases as part of a new law internship programme established between the University’s Te Piringa – Faculty of Law, and the Police Prosecution Service (PPS).

Third- and fourth-year law students, who

have completed the third year crimes paper, are eligible to undertake the internship programme which runs during the university’s summer school period.

This programme gives students “real hands-on experience with a prosecutor, following a case, including spending time in court, and doing real work and submissions,” Wayne Rumbles, Senior Lecturer at Te Piringa – Faculty of Law says.

Students in the programme spend six weeks working on a number of cases under the guidance of a mentor in a town or city within the central North Island. They then spend another six weeks writing a research paper following on from their case work.

Our Profession · Our People ON THE MOVE Cameron Madgwick is trading in his LexisNexis and gown for a pair of steel cap boots and overalls as he takes up a new challenge as the Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of NZ (PEPANZ). PEPANZ is the voice of the oil and gas industry in New Zealand. Cameron has spent the last 16 years working as legal counsel for companies like Vector, New Zealand Rugby Union and as a senior solicitor for Cameron Madgwick Russell McVeagh. Cameron won’t be completely removed from his legal background with a steady flow of regulation and legislation governing the operations of the oil and gas sector frequently popping up on the order papers. His new role means he will also be the public face of an industry that receives a fair share of media attention.

Michael Anderson has been made a partner of Lowndes Associates. Michael is a senior lawyer who specialises in banking and finance, securities, corporate recovery and insolvency law. Michael advises on a wide range of restructuring and insolvency matters, including acting for the receivers on two of New Zealand’s largest receiverships. He is also experienced in banking and finance (on both the bank and borrower sides) and has provided Michael Anderson advice to corporate trustees and public security issuers in respect of many debt issues and managed funds issues. Michael joins Lowndes Associates from Chapman Tripp where he was a partner for 24 years.

Horsley Christie Lawyers has made Sarah Little a partner. Sarah is the first female partner in the firm since it was first established 103 years ago. Sarah, who joined Horsley Christie in 2006, is a member of the litigation team, specialising in family law, and also working in the areas of employment and civil litigation. She is an accredited member of the New Zealand Law Society Panel of Mediators and is an approved Family Dispute Resolution Provider. Sarah Sarah Little is also on the Panel of Lawyers to represent Children, appointed by the Family Court.

In the 18 July issue of LawTalk, an item in the “On the move” column stated that Israel Vaealiki and Lois Black had recently joined TGT Legal.

In fact, they had been promoted to new positions within TGT Legal. Israel has been made a senior associate and Lois has been made a senior solicitor.

Welcome to the profession The New Zealand Law Society welcomes the following recently admitted lawyer to the profession.

Nelson

Sophie Claire Reese

£240,000

The round figure cost an English respondent has to pay following a Supreme Court costs order, which has led the court to express “grave concern” over the “exorbitant” cost of litigation for ordinary citizens.

Coventry v Lawrence (No 2) [2014] UKSC 46 concerned a claim for nuisance by the appellants who owned a residential bungalow, against the occupiers of a stadium some 850 yards away used for speedway and other motor racing.

The Supreme Court had previously determined that the owners David Coventry, trading as RDC Promotions, and a track Moto-Land UK were liable to the home owners, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and re-instating the first instance decision.

It ordered the two defendants to pay 60% of the appellants’ trial costs, more than half of which was for the no win, no fee uplift and ATE insurance premium.

“These figures are very disturbing,” the Supreme Court President, Lord Neuberger, said. “They give rise to grave concern even if one ignores the success fee and ATE premium.

The fact that it can cost two citizens £400,000 in legal fees and disbursements to establish and enforce their right to live in peace in their home is on any view highly regrettable.

“The point can equally forcefully be made from the point of view of the respondents. As relatively small business operators, they are not only having to fund their own costs, which presumably would be of the same order, but in addition they are going to have to pay some £240,000 towards the appellants’ costs.

“It is true that the respondents lost, but they were seeking to defend their businesses and they plainly had a reasonable case, as is evidenced by the fact that they won in the Court of Appeal.”

Lord Neuberger said the Civil Procedure Rules had tried to “achieve a better relationship between the costs and benefits of litigation” but added “as the figures in this case show … that target has not merely proved elusive, but it is often missed by a very wide margin indeed.”

Lord Neuberger also said: “It would be wrong for this court not to express its grave concern about the base costs in this case, and express the hope that those responsible for civil justice in England and Wales are considering what further steps can be taken to ensure better access to justice.”

The case is available at www.supremecourt. uk/decided-cases/.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Practising Well

What happened to the dentists?

By Gwendoline Smith For years and years, conversations about suicide would inevitably include someone in the group saying: “Apparently dentists have the highest suicide rate out of all the professions.” Then there would be a little joke along the lines of: “I’d feel the same if I had to stare into peoples’ mouths all day.”

Well not any more. Lawyers have now taken the top position.

Studies on lawyers and depression now reveal that lawyers are the most frequently depressed group in the United States and lawyers are 3.6 times more likely to suffer depression than non-lawyers. (Davenee Foundation 2014). 1

How has that happened?

As with any discussion about the prevalence of illness, the answers come from many sources: genetics, cultural and economic change, the pace of life, increased competition and learned behavioural and attitudinal patterns from childhood.

There are the obvious ones that I don’t need to tell you about because you live them every day – time pressure, billable hours, workplace culture, struggling to maintain work-life balance, particularly in a world where now dual career relationships are commonplace. Life just becomes more stressful.

“Beside I thrive on stress. It gives me that extra drive. I work so much better when I’m on deadline.” Yes, this is a common response.

However, what is more relevant is the word “strain”. Whether you enjoy your work or not, environmental pressures put a strain on your system, and just like two trucks pulling a tow rope in opposite directions, eventually – as a result of the strain – the rope will snap.

So it is of no importance whether you define stress as positive “eustress” or negative “distress”. It is still a strain on your system. Particularly in a profession such as law, your brain – the most important organ of them all – experiences phenomenal strain.

I would like to take you through some of the less obvious contributing factors.

These are the phenomena that I deal with as a clinical psychologist when working with lawyers in my clinical practice.

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Your biology Certainly there are genetic contributors. However, when I was researching for my book Depression Explained the statistics still showed only a 10 to 15% genetic predisposition. Figures change of course. For instance, if you have experienced one major depression illness in your lifetime you are 50% more likely to experience another episode.

What is important to understand at this junction is that people don’t just get depressed overnight. It is not scientifically possible to not be depressed on a Monday and then be depressed on a Wednesday.

The body does not operate in that manner.

Certainly if you have gone through a significant trauma, death of a loved one, or involved in a major car collision, there will be shock and grief and horror followed by sadness. These are not to be confused with depression. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder shows us that such trauma can become a depressive illness, but with time.

The True Epidemic Anxiety. Now there’s another story. The genetic contributions are estimated to be between 30 to 40%.

I have found a helpful way to think of the origins of anxiety is to talk in terms of temperament. When writing about childhood depression I had this conversation with Professor Emeritus John Werry, a specialist in childhood psychiatry.

Talk to any parent and particularly mum and you will hear the following: “Our Jennifer – what a dream child, slept all through the night, never bothered by anything.

Paul on the other hand, couldn’t sleep, was intolerant of noise, was crying and distressed a lot.”

This is the description of differences in temperament from day one. What is being described in lay terms is an easily overstimulated startle response. This manifests as a heightened sensitivity to environmental stimulus. In other words, the fight-flight survival mechanism is switched on without the existence of life threatening events.

Children learn how to manage, and devise, safety behaviours that will keep them as comfortable as possible going through life. However, life events such as bullying, constant re-location and dysfunctional family environments really start to cement in fear-driven anxiety.

So, if you’re born with that, it’s no different than the colour of your eyes, or asthma or shortsightedness. Forget the stigma, anxiety is not a weakness. Such heightened sensitivity, like so many other aspects of life, can be a curse and a gift.

And just like asthma or diabetes, it can be managed. It is only when it is not acknowledged and treated that it becomes problematic. Sure you can find your own ways of dealing with it, like working long hours, drinking heavily, striving for perfectionism and constantly pleasing people. But then that’s about as comfortable as walking through life with a stone in your shoe.

It is my strongly held belief that anxiety is the pathway to depression. I say to clients all the time: “Think of your brain like a car battery. If you leave the headlights on the battery will go flat quickly. If you leave the parking lights on, the battery still goes flat.

It just takes longer.”

So you keep going and going, working long hours, worrying about outcomes and performance; you’re waking up in the early hours of the morning still worrying; you get up and start checking and rechecking work or you’re taking international calls. Slowly but surely, without regular times to recharge, your battery starts to go flat. And that is one of the first emotions you will start to experience, flatness – lack of joy, lack of enjoyment, lack of interest in other people and doing the things you used to enjoy.

Other warning signs

• Excessive, ongoing worry and tension.

• An unrealistic view of problems.

• Restlessness or a feeling of being “edgy”.

• Irritability.

• Muscle tension.

• Headaches.

• Sweating.

• Difficulty concentrating.

• Nausea.

• The need to go to the bathroom frequently.

• Tiredness.

• Trouble falling or staying asleep.

• Trembling.

• Being easily startled.

If I still have your attention This list gives you are very clear indication of the changes to look out for. In the medium to long term the system can no longer function to its best capacity and will break down.

I must admit to liking the old term “Frank’s

Practising Well had a bit of a nervous breakdown” because that’s what happens and depression is the end result of this pathway. The more severe the depressive illness becomes, suicidal thinking becomes more frequent and suicide presents itself as an option.

Anxiety and depression or burnout or stress – whatever name you put to it – are such treatable conditions.

Some of the symptoms above can be addressed through lifestyle changes, exercise and nutrition.

But then, there are the more covert issues such as attitudes and cognitive processes.

These are best handled by psychological clinicians. If your symptoms have been there for many years and are very entrenched, today’s medications can make a great contribution towards healing the brain. A combination of all of the above is preferable. However, it is not easy to go running round the block chomping on a gluten free fruit bar when you can’t even decide what clothes to put on in the morning.

Drop the weakness nonsense I’ve done enough work within your profession and many others to know there is a stigma attached, and a fear of acknowledging that

Anxiety and depression or burnout or stress – whatever name you put to it – are such treatable conditions. you may not be coping.

Ultimately the weakness is in not getting help when you need it.

If you are thinking of going for help, start with your GP. Your doctor will know you and the relationship is of course confidential.

Your GP will also have a list of recommended psychologists.

In the middle of the night, Lifeline is always there and they provide a listening ear and

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guidance and that difficult time, when you feel like you’re the only one awake.

Gwendoline Smith is a New Zealand trained clinical psychologist. In her private practice she specialises in working with depression and anxiety with a particular interest in treating worry. She is the founder of the New Zealand destigmatisation campaign “Like Minds” (currently fronted by Sir John Kirwan). The author of four books, Will the Real Mr. New Zealand Please Stand Up (Penguin); Sharing the Load (Random House); Depression Explained (GSA Pub Ltd) and Breast Support – What to do if you or someone you love has breast cancer (Exisle), she has presented seminars within the law community on “stress and lawyers” as well as individual work with lawyers in her practice.

Her thoughts are: “Yes there are very similar factors for lawyers as anyone else dealing with stress in their environment. However, there are considerations that are very specific/idiosyncratic to the law profession that also need to be taken into consideration”. Gwendoline works from specialist rooms in Vermont Street Ponsonby and can be contacted on 09 360 0360.

1. New Zealand figures on the rate of suicide by occupation are not known.

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

23

Effective Practice

So, how did you get to work on 5 March 2013?

By Geoff Adlam New Zealand lawyers who went to work on Tuesday, 5 March 2013 were far more likely to use public transport and twice as likely to walk or jog than all New Zealand workers.

That day was, of course, the national census. Information obtained from Statistics New Zealand on the main means of travel to

Method used to travel the largest distance to place of employment on census day

work indicates that the picture of swarms of lawyers motoring to their workplaces in gas-guzzling, congestion-causing cars is just not true.

On that Tuesday, 60.5% of lawyers travelled to work by car – less than the 63.3% of all employed New Zealanders. And 7.7% of all lawyers went by public bus and 3.1% by train, which was well ahead of the 3.2% of all working New Zealanders travelling by bus and 1.2% by train.

2.8 % 3.1 % 3.9% 4.9% 5.7% 7.7%

Method Motor cycle or power cycle

10.5%

0.9 % 6.8%

Members of the judiciary were less likely to use public transport, with only 4% taking the bus or train. However, the judges were as active as lawyers in getting to work the healthy way, and just under 11% of lawyers and judges walked or jogged – well ahead of the 5% of all New Zealand workers.

The customised Statistics New Zealand data shows all people in the “barrister”, “solicitor” or “judge” occupational categories.

0% 1.9 % 1%

2.2 % 4.6%

11.7%

10.4%

2.9% 2.9%

8.5%

10.7%

5.3%

3.2% 1.9 %

2.5 % 3.3 %

1.3 % 1.2 %

1%

10.9% 3.8 %

Bicycle Train Other and not elsewhere included Did not go to work Worked at home Public bus Walked or jogged Drove company car, truck or van Passenger in car, truck or van

54.7%

58.3%

48.6%

Drove private car, truck or van

Lawyers

Judges

All New Zealand Workers

Cigarette? No thanks, I’m a lawyer Another set of customised Statistics New Zealand data shows that far fewer lawyers are likely to be smokers than all employed New Zealanders – and the proportion of smokers among members of the judiciary is even lower.

Just 5% of lawyers described themselves as a regular smoker in the 2013 census, compared with 15% of all New Zealand workers.

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· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

Only 3% of judges were regular smokers.

However, a relatively high proportion (28%) of judges were ex-smokers, compared with 20% of lawyers and 22% of all New Zealand workers. Whether ex-smokers are more likely to become judges or whether it is easier to kick the habit once elevated to the bench is unknown.

Being on the other side of the bench, however, does appear to have the opposite

effect. Barristers seem far more likely to be regular smokers than do solicitors: 11% of barristers are smokers, but only 4% of solicitors.

As for all New Zealand workers, the proportion of lawyers who smoke continues to fall.

A University of Otago study in 2011 found that 7.8% of lawyers and judiciary occupations were regular smokers at the 2006 census, down from 19.4% in 1981.

Effective Practice Cigarette smoking behaviour, 2013 census

Lawyers

2.1%

Judges

5%

Behaviourcolour code clockwise

2%

All New Zealand Workers

2.9%

3.5% 14.6%

19.9%

27.5%

Regular smoker

22.2%

Ex-smoker Never smoked regularly Not elsewhere included

The art of judgment writing “[1] This judgment will make depressing reading. It concerns a dispute between two intelligent and not unsuccessful businessmen who, after years of successful collaboration, have fallen out with each other and this and other litigation has ensued

Life in the Law Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes has apologised for taking bags of marijuana back to his office. Holmes had purchased the drug at a newly-opened Washington state

72.9%

68.6%

59.7%

with a vengeance. Being without or having run out of funds to pay for legal representation, they have become resolute litigators and they litigated in person. Some unlucky judge had to cope with the problems that inevitably arise in the management of a case like this. Here the short straw was drawn

by His Honour Judge Anthony Thornton QC. He struggled manfully, patiently, politely, carefully and conscientiously. Many may not have done so. It is, therefore, hugely unfortunate that the appeal is launched essentially on the ground that the judge allowed himself to become distracted and so wrongly conducted the trial on the written information he had without allowing the defendants to call live evidence. The appeal is based upon that alleged procedural impropriety.”

“[49] The Respondents’ applications are based upon Mr Dotcom’s theory which is based upon evidence which has a plausible alternative explanation. They lack any ‘air of reality’ as they rely upon a perceived coincidence. These applications are in the nature of a fishing expedition, made in the hope of flushing out evidence which might be useful to the Respondents. Even if it was successful it is highly unlikely that it would be evidence that might assist the Respondents to counter any of the Applicant’s evidence in the ROC. If evidence of improper political involvement was to be found, it would not impact upon the extradition hearing. It may or may not impact upon other court proceedings, but it is not the role of this court to grant discovery orders that may or may not be relevant to other proceedings.”

— Sir Alan Ward, Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Wright v Michael Wright Supplies Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 234.

—Judge Nevin Dawson, United States of America v Dotcom and Others, 23 May 2014, North Shore District Court, CRI-2012-092-001647.

marijuana retail shop. He had been one of the first in line to exercise his right to legally buy cannabis and was photographed holding up a brown paper bag of marijuana. His apology was for violating workplace rules.

Elected in 2009, Holmes heads 90 attorneys in the City Attorney’s Office.

he is “eternally grateful” that the plot was uncovered.

Michigan lawyer Clarence Gomery has been charged with homicide, solicitation of murder, allegedly after trying to pay a man $20,000 to kill another lawyer. Gomery, 59, offered the man money plus $1,000 to buy a gun. The man turned him in instead.

The intended victim, lawyer Chris Cooke, was representing someone who was suing Gomery over a real estate deal. Cooke says

Malaysian lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is appealing a fine imposed on him for misconduct in the legal profession.

His appeal in the Court of Appeal came to a temporary halt when he was reminded not to wear his barrister’s robe because he was representing himself. He was able to continue after removing the offending gown.

The Supreme Court of New South Wales has ordered Hendrick Jan van Es struck off after he cheated in the NSW Bar Association’s Legal Ethics for Barristers exam. Van Es was spotted during the exam reading LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

25

Th a

law

as the tw

VAGRANT ACT 1866 “IV. Any person who shall commit any of the next following offences shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond within the meaning of this Act and be liable to the punishment next hereinafter specified…

“2. Any person soliciting gathering or collecting alms subscriptions or contributions under any false pretence …

“10. Any person found by night having his face blackened or wearing felt or other slippers or being dressed or otherwise disguised with a felonious intent … shall be liable to imprisonment in any gaol with hard labour for any time not exceeding one year…”

While England made it an offence to be homeless or beg in 1824, New Zealand enacted its own laws 42 years later. From 6 September 1866 until 1 February 1982 when the Police Offences Act 1927 was repealed, a significant number of people were deemed to be “rogues and vagabonds”.

The New Zealand legislation also adopted the other categories used in England to target homeless people or anyone felt to be making a nuisance of themselves. Someone could be declared “idle and disorderly” (6 months imprisonment), a “rogue and a vagabond” (one year imprisonment), or an “incorrigible rogue” (the worst of all, with two years’ imprisonment with hard labour).

While New Zealand got rid of this rather archaic legislation in 1982, the Vagrant Act 1824 is still in force in England and Wales – although the offence of being an “incorrigible rogue” was repealed in 2013. It is still possible to be deemed a rogue and a vagabond, and the offence is also found in a number of the United States (the Maryland Code says a person breaking and entering a motor car shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond).

26

· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

Life in the Law Continued... time with a bundle of loose papers. He refused to show them when challenged and was ordered to leave. Once outside he extracted some papers from his materials and concealed them under his clothes and

then tried unsuccessfully to re-enter. Initially denying that he had unauthorised material he admitted it after being shown CCTV footage of what he did.

reading all email. The client later received an authentic-looking email purporting to be from the law firm. It asked the client not to deposit the money into the trust account due to issues with bank documentation.

The client was told that new bank account details would be sent later. Luckily the attempted theft was detected before matters progressed.

How to transmit a virus

Scambuster Reports of hacked New Zealand law firm computer systems seem to be becoming more prevalent. This reinforces the need for a rigorous approach to ensuring IT security systems are kept updated and are regularly checked.

Last month a number of New Zealand lawyers received an email purporting to come from a lawyer in a Queenstown law firm. The body of the email stated: “Kindly, view the document i just upload for you, Sign in below to access the document, VIEW HERE, Regards”.

Needless to say, the lawyer knew nothing of the message – and the IT system of anyone clicking on the link could have been attacked by a virus Have a closer look at the message above.

The poor grammar, bad punctuation and slightly strange language remains one of the best ways of detecting scams. It is rare (unknown in my experience) for an email scammer not to make such mistakes. While it could be said that it is also rare for most email writers not to make mistakes as well, would any New Zealand lawyer really write something like that?

How do viruses get into your system? One way is by sending an apparently innocent email which tries to trick the recipient into downloading the virus.

A virus email message purporting to have been sent by Green Winick Attorneys at Law has been reported in New Zealand.

The message has the heading “Notice to Appear in Court” and contains a link. Anyone who clicks on the link risks downloading a malicious file which infects their computer once opened.

The body of the message reads: “Notice to Appear. To view copy of the court notice click here. Please read it thoroughly. Note: If you do not attend the hearing the judge may hear the case in your absence.”

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Depositing money scam If your computer system is hacked you can have some worrying experiences. One recent example occurred when a North Island law firm received a genuine email from a client confirming that they would be paying a large sum of money into the firm trust account.

Unknown to the law firm, its computer system had been hacked and the hackers were

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Law Talk…

unless you attended at a law school.” – Canadian lawyer and lecturer Will Goldstein tells online community newspaper windsoriteDOTca why it is useful to have a law degree.

“She has been in custody for six weeks. While it’s kept the community safe in its ideals, it’s not ideal for her.” – Paul Johnson speaks on behalf of his client Margaret Dodds in Christchurch District Court, after she had been remanded in custody for six weeks.

“I think you are talking bullshit” – Uis, Namibia resident Johannes van der Westhuizen appearing as a witness and being crossexamined by defence lawyer Brownell Uirab.

After laughter from the judge, lawyers and spectators, he was gently cautioned about his use of language.

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but so what? Oh, how many times did I want to write that sentence in a legal document? At least a thousand. I got snarky from time to time, but I never felt free to get that snippy.” – Washington DC lawyer Robert Driscoll responds to law firm Kirkland & Ellis on their suggestion that he hasn’t been attentive enough in document discovery.

“I also tell the kids in law school that even if you never practise law after you obtain a law degree, you will develop a skill set that will enable you to do crossword puzzles that you would have never been able to complete before you studied law. There are some three and four letter Latin words that you would never know

“I called their brother, sister, aunt, uncle. They stick their head in the sand until there’s a noose around their neck and it becomes an emergency. When they wanted something, Mike would call me on the phone at 4 o’clock in the morning.” – Attorney Richard Wolfe tells reporters why he has filed a lawsuit

against Jersey Shore reality TV participant Michael Sorrentino and his brother Marc for overdue legal fees.

“Our legal arguments are solid and powerful. That they didn’t work could be because the judge didn’t give herself enough time to think.” – Swedish lawyer Per Samuelson after a court upheld a detention order on his client Julian Assange. Saumuelson promised he would write “a juicy, toxic appeal” against the decision.

“The victims in this particular situation, the young lady Niya Pickett, Brinley Williams and the gay individual, Ricquan James, they’re traumatised by this. You have two 6-foot-5, 300 pound giants who went around this club and knocked out a woman and a gay guy who are less than half their sizes, and they were very adamant that they want these people, the Pouncey brothers, held accountable, and they wanted this to move forward. They didn’t want this to be swept under the rug, and for these individuals to get away with this just because they’re rich and famous. You know, regular people need to have a voice as well and you can’t just go around punching peoples’ lights out.” – Florida attorney Marwan Porter explains why he has filed a civil suit on behalf of three people allegedly assaulted

by NFL twins Mike and Maurkice Pouncey during their 25th birthday celebrations in a Miami nightclub.

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

27

Letters to the Editor

The red tape wrapped around legal aid Dear Editor, Eligibility for criminal cases tends to be straightforward. Perhaps the Ministry of Justice expects the financial disclosure from alleged criminals to be inherently trustworthy.

For family/civil cases, on the other hand, we advocates of truth and justice must run around, unpaid, to obtain details of our clients’ ad hoc part-time earnings or benefits. Legal aid forms confer authority on the Ministry to obtain this information but government data matching only goes so far and the task is outsourced to the lawyers instead.

Like a ticking clock you then need to submit the legal aid application with this eligibility information before the case is over, or fickle instructions are withdrawn; or you don’t get paid. If there are businesses, companies or trusts, you can then guarantee that a legal aid grant will lag a long time behind any court deadlines, as those assets are pored over.

If the applicant is fortunate enough to own a property, then there will be letters from the Ministry chasing the applicant and being copied to the lawyer, for authority to be given for a caveat/land charge. The details and explanation surrounding this must also be dealt with by the lawyer, unpaid. This will be the beginning of a blizzard of email correspondence from legal aid generally, hogging your inbox. These emails along the legal aid journey tend to be opaque and cryptic. Pre-packaged template paragraphs can make the eyes glaze over. Time periods to respond make no allowance for the pressures of practice.

Interim repayments are then set by the Ministry towards some fantastic figure called the “prescribed repayment amount” which is actually the very maximum the aided person would ever have to pay, based on their financials. Clients wrongly think this is the

28

· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

amount that the lawyer is going to charge.

This has to be explained laboriously as well.

When interim repayment amounts are defaulted upon, then the lawyer is caught up, unpaid, in the race to chase these along.

There is talk of withdrawing aid, which is unsettling when court deadlines are impinging. After a case is over, costs, the amount of the repayment and any write-off work extend well into the afterlife of the case, again unpaid for the lawyer.

The fiendish complexity of the rules is difficult enough for lawyers. The numerous highways, byways and discretions involved in legal aid need to be explained, every step of the way, by the lawyer to an uncomprehending and sometimes emotionally labile layperson, who is naturally more concerned about the merits and urgency of his or her case than the circumstances in which interest may be charged on a legal aid debt (if one is raised).

The new fixed fee framework makes invoicing of simple, lock step tasks easy but heaven help you if you try to take the off ramp from the fixed fee motorway.

Considerable time and forward thought is required to justify why a case is special enough not to be on the prix fixe menu.

When invoicing special fees, they then need to be billed on a separate invoice. This can be particularly tiring for family cases which involve overlapping categories of work and where there already needs to be separate invoices for each activity. The six monthly billing requirements for non-fixed fees lead to time being inadvertently lost when you are busy or if the fixed fee case becomes non-fixed fee, when the six monthly rule reasserts itself. You can have the perverse situation of the case being accepted as special but not being able to bill for it.

If there is a request for a special fee, that must be on an amendment application

which needs to be filed before the case is over or the special fee will not be allowed.

Amendments, clumsily, are supposed to be pre-discussed with the client before they are even applied for, despite the client being advised by the Ministry afterwards.

Typically, the extra work that is required for justifying a special fee will only loom large just before a hearing and you will have to spend precious time in your trial preparation making sure that the legal aid aspect is under control.

Staff at the Ministry make difficult decisions about whether a case is special enough to merit a special fee. Factors identified for special cases like “vulnerable clients” or “communication difficulties” may often be legitimately asserted and then the Ministry will require more detail about why the case is truly like this. The sophistry and hair-splitting about such issues may take weeks and may, again, extend well past the life of the case.

After all the work has been done, the lawyer will often be told that a smaller amount than invoiced may be claimed.

The only recourse then is to go for reconsideration or review but the Legal Aid Tribunal requires authority from the client before any review may be taken and conflict is set up because the client will not wish to authorise their lawyer being paid more if that may increase their repayment level.

For civil cases, there is an extensive “prospects of success” layer as well, with the work for this sometimes all being wasted when the necessary analysis of the case is done by the lawyer and then legal aid is refused. There will also be an obligation to notify the court and the other side of legal aid which obligation can be neglected in the most well run practices. Again, that is something which the Ministry should be able to do. It only needs to set up a computer program to notify itself.

Letters to the Editor Apart from that, there is the obligation of lawyers to notify legal aid of any change in circumstances of their client. You might pick up something in a client’s or the other side’s affidavit, for example, which means that you need separately to write to the Ministry once more. Again, this would be unpaid.

The funding will not be adequate for most cases where the lawyer is actually trying hard.

Where the client is low maintenance or has not got much of a chance, you can wing it, to an extent, in the court, professional pride aside. But even then, the time consuming requirements of case management in all of our courts mean that you are still highly unlikely to be able to escape from writing off time.

It is appreciated that new fashions in billing speak more of value billing rather than time-based systems but for legal aid, there is no ability to negotiate over a suitable fixed fee. The amount is always too low, for nearly all of the tasks, if you are conscientious.

In criminal, there’s admittedly the odd windfall or unearned reward that is meant to make up for the rest but really doesn’t. To survive, you need to ask for special fees or some undertake activities that they would not otherwise do to try to pick up individual fixed fees, as compliance with label trumps quality. Far from encouraging efficiency, fixed fees lead to cherry picking, superficial over-lawyering and a reluctance to delve into the necessary detail in the complex cases.

For criminal cases, there are inefficiencies and quality issues with the rotational assignment system. It seems strange that lawyers who have developed a rapport with their clients may not have the clients back again. It is usually easier to act for a client the second time around and there is less need to win over the client’s trust again.

Also, costly mistakes may be made without the information advantage brought by a deeper understanding of a client and/or his or her supports. Conflicts of interest lead to random assignments having to be declined, on occasion, with consequent delay, even as the CPA conveyor belt rumbles on. Activities that are delayed, such as not filing CMM a week before the CR, when nobody reads them then anyway, also lead to lawyers not being paid.

There may be ongoing Family Court proceedings as well as criminal and there could be two different lawyers involved in those processes which can hardly be said to be efficient or high quality in keeping with the purpose statement in the legislation. It is also anti-competitive to say that a criminal

defendant, sometimes with a repayment obligation, may not choose his or her own lawyer.

The overall impression, regrettably, is that the legal aid system has become standardised and commoditised, with quality being squeezed out of it. The remaining lawyers who are doing their level best to serve their clients find it an unforgiving

environment and there looks to be trouble ahead with an unsustainable turnover of younger practitioners. I look back nostalgically to the simple days of time-based systems, regular peer review and much less money and time wasted on administration.

Steven Zindel Nelson

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There is a form on the Law Society website to do this. It is at www.lawsociety.org.nz/ for-lawyers/change-your-details. You can contact Registry at registry@lawsociety.org.nz.

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LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

29

The Bookshelf

Constitutional and Administrative Law in New Zealand, 4th edition Reviewed by Jason McHerron Twenty one years ago, Philip Joseph wrote the first specialist public law text covering constitutional and administrative law from a distinctively New Zealand perspective. In his foreword to the second edition in 2001, Lord Cooke described Professor Joseph as New Zealand’s leading public law academic, praising his book’s outstanding characteristics – balance, breadth of coverage, and helpfulness of reference. Now in its fourth edition, the book retains and enhances these attributes, clearly articulating the current state of the law, challenging dogma and suggesting improvements.

The relative stability of New Zealand’s government may explain why reviews, such as last year’s Constitutional Advisory Panel,

tend to shy away from recommending dramatic change.

Describing New Zealand’s constitutional journey as a “pragmatic evolution”, Joseph refers to the Constitutional Arrangements Committee’s reflection in 2005 on the national instinct to “fix things when they need fixing … without necessarily relating them to some grand philosophical scheme.” An example is women’s suffrage which, Joseph reminds us, was not enacted through a planned and principled legislative programme, but after a political strategy went awry: Seddon’s botched attempt to let the bill fail in the Upper House so he wouldn’t be blamed for its downfall.

Complacency with our constitutional institutions and arrangements may also

explain why New Zealand is “the acme of legislative supremacy”. Professor Joseph has been testing the boundaries of parliamentary sovereignty for some time, following in Lord Cooke’s footsteps. Indeed, whether there are constitutional limits on the power to legislate is described as “the most pressing decision facing Westminster scholarship”.

Such limits may be provided through the gathering momentum of human rights, with its tendency to leave some cases on the wrong side of history. Witness the majority judgments in the marriage equality case Quilter v Attorney-General, which Joseph subjects to a withering critique.

The stature and scope of this book ensures its regular citation in court decisions, such as the prisoner voting case Taylor v Attorney-General, where the High Court recently confirmed that it theoretically has

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F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T O U R S E R V I C E S :

www.lawsociety.org.nz/home/for-lawyers/law-library/services A U C K L A N D

auckland@nzlslibrary.org.nz 09 304 1020 W E L L I N G T O N wellington@nzlslibrary.org.nz 04 473 6202 C A N T E R B U R Y canterbury@nzlslibrary.org.nz 03 377 1852

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The Bookshelf the jurisdiction to issue a formal declaration of inconsistency of legislation with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. (The practical likelihood of exercise of such jurisdiction remains low, however.)

Events like the Canterbury Earthquakes bring home the importance of the rule of law as the “sentinel of constitutional government” and as “shorthand for the ideals that identify the modern democracy”. This edition re-evaluates the rule of law as a foundational norm and principle of legality.

Attorney-General v Ireland is singled out as a wrong turn by the Court of Appeal. Its approval of a decision maker’s engaging in activities not authorised by its statute subverts Dicey’s first meaning of the rule of law: government according to law.

The Chief Justice has recently observed that, beyond the occasional rhetorical flourish, there has been little unpacking of the concept of the rule of law in New Zealand case law to date. And, while it seems the Supreme Court is engaging in ever more adventurous purposive interpretation, we haven’t had anything approaching a Marbury v Madison moment. At least not yet.

But, for all his championing of the rule of law, Joseph is not misty-eyed, describing s 3(2) of the Supreme Court Act 2003 (“Nothing in this Act affects New Zealand’s continuing commitment to the rule of law and the sovereignty of Parliament”) as “ineffectual and superfluous”. It is proposed to repeal it in the Judicature Modernisation Bill, despite senior judges warning of the “risk that deletion of these elements will be seen to be a legislative choice of significance”.

Much has changed in this edition because public law, like rust, never sleeps. There is a new chapter on the sources of the constitution, and Joseph advances his positive empowerment theory of government – that all public action must be positively authorised by law. This theory inverts the so-called “third source” of authority for government action, otherwise known as “residual freedom”.

Administrative law, famously described

by Sir Michael Myers as “not known to the courts” [being] “a concoction of academicians”, benefits from Professor Joseph’s clear and analytical treatment. Judicial review must remain relatively simple, untechnical and prompt. Remembering the inarticulate premise of judicial review (has something gone wrong?) will help keep it so. Concerned about terminological overload and creeping formalism, Joseph would cast aside substantive unfairness and supplement unreasonableness with proportionality.

New Zealand courts have yet to embrace proportionality and recent comments by the Chief Justice illustrate ongoing diffidence.

This text pushes boundaries – for example, the High Court’s tentative approval of the reasoning in M’s case (mandatory orders available against the Crown as executive) in Paul v Attorney-General. Joseph rightly says that “[i]t beggars belief why the modern executive … should be immune from standard legal processes”. In his view, the historical immunity should be confined to the Crown as Sovereign.

Joseph laments that our attitudes to the constitution border on indifference. Recent evidence might suggest otherwise: the Constitutional Advisory Panel received over 5,000 written submissions. But the Panel’s report did conclude that more work needs to be done to ensure our constitution is better understood. The foundations for that have already been solidly laid in this book. In producing it, no one has contributed more than Philip Joseph to improving our understanding of these areas of New Zealand’s law.

Jason McHerron is a Wellington barrister specialising in public law, commercial, regulatory and competition litigation. He is an author of McGechan on Procedure and a co-author of Subordinate Legislation in New Zealand, and a member of the New Zealand Law Society’s Public and Administrative Law Committee.

Providing Professional Indemnity and specialist insurance products to the Legal Profession Visit www.justitia.co.nz for further information and application forms Or Contact: Mr Ross Meijer, Aon New Zealand 04-819-4000 ross.meijer@aon.com

A Blighted Fame: George S Evans 1802-1868, A Life

BY HELEN RIDDIFORD

English barrister, editor and politician George Evans was one of the first lawyers to arrive in Wellington, on 7 March 1840. Described as “reckless and unpredictable”, he was one of the key promoters of the colonisation of New Zealand. Helen Riddiford’s biography looks at the life and times of a colourful personality.

Victoria University Press, July 2014, 978-0864738-96-7, 503 pages, hardback, $60.00 (GST included, p&h excluded).

Youth Justice in Aotearoa New Zealand: Law, Policy and Critique

BY ALISON CLEL AND AND KHYLEE QUINCE

The authors teach a youth justice course at Otago University and have developed this work to explore the origins, principles and practices of New Zealand’s youth justice system. The system is looked at from Māori and international human rights law perspectives.

LexisNexis NZ Ltd, July 2014, 978-1-92718378-6, 283 pages, paperback and e-book, $99.00 (GST included, p&h excluded).

The Evidence Act 2006: Act & Analysis, 3rd Edition

BY RICHARD MAHONEY, ELISABETH MCDONALD, SCOTT OPTICAN AND Y VETTE TINSLEY The second edition was published in December 2012. The book is structured around the Act, with section-by-section commentary and analysis. The latest edition includes the Law Commission’s 2013 Review of the Evidence Act 2006 and also considers proposed future amendments to the Act. The law is stated as at 1 April 2014.

Brookers Ltd, July 2014, 978-0-864728-61-6, 712 pages, paperback, $100.00 (GST and p&h excluded).

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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Land on Competition Law

Reasonableness of credit fees

By John Land The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Act 2014 was given the Royal Assent on 6 June.

The Act makes a number of changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003. (See also Introduction of Principles of Responsible Lending, LawTalk 840, 28 April 2014, p 28).

One of the changes made is a change to the rules as to when credit fees or default fees are considered unreasonable.

The changed provisions relating to credit fees still appear to be consistent with the approach to the assessment of the reasonableness of costs in the decision of Justice Toogood in Commerce Commission v Sportzone Motor Cycles Ltd (In Liquidation) and Others [2013] NZHC 2531.

However the changed provisions create a potential ambiguity in relation to the approach to charges for compulsory services (such as delivery services) provided in connection with a loan contract.

Section 41 of the new Act provides that a consumer credit contract must not provide for a credit fee or a default fee that is unreasonable.

Before its recent amendment, s 44(1) of the Act provided: In determining whether a credit fee or a default fee is unreasonable, the Court must have regard to: (a) In relation to the matter giving rise to the fee, whether the fee reasonably compensates a creditor for the following: (i) any cost incurred by the creditor (including the cost of providing a service to the debtor if the fee relates to the provision of the service); (ii) a reasonable estimate of any loss incurred by the creditor as a result of the debtor’s acts or omissions; and (b) Reasonable standards of commercial practice.

That previous wording is now replaced by a new s 44 in relation to credit fees and a separate s 44A specifically in relation to default fees.

The new s 44(1) provides: “In determining whether a credit fee is unreasonable, the

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Court must have regard to, in relation to the matter giving rise to the fee, whether the fee reasonably compensates the creditor for any cost incurred by the creditor (including the cost of providing a service to the debtor if the fee relates to the provision of a service).”

Section 44(2) then provides: “In determining whether the fee reasonably compensates the creditor for any cost referred to in subsection (1), the Court must have regard to reasonable standards of commercial practice.”

The new s 44A in relation to default fees takes a similar approach. It asks whether the default fee reasonably compensates the creditor for costs incurred or a reasonable estimate of any loss incurred, and states that in determining whether the fee reasonably compensates the creditor for any cost and loss the Court must have regard to reasonable standards of commercial practice.

The recent Sportzone decision interpreted the previous form of s 44 (and also s 42 dealing with establishment costs). In Sportzone, the Commerce Commission argued that the defendant’s fees were unreasonable because establishment fees included costs which were not incurred in sufficient connection with the particular transaction and certain other credit fees were not sufficiently related to the activities for which the fees were charged.

The Commission’s approach was that the fees should be assessed against the variable costs of the particular activity giving rise to the fee. Justice Toogood accepted the Commission’s argument. He also set out some helpful guidance (at [86] to [87]) as to the approach for calculating the variable costs relevant to an activity that formed part of a credit fee.

The judgment is subject to an appeal, due to be heard in November. However, subject to that appeal, the recent amendment to s 44 does not appear to affect the relevance of Justice Toogood’s guidance.

His analysis in Sportzone was based on his interpretation of the expressions “in connection with” in s 42 (in respect of establishment fees) and “in relation to” in s 44 (in respect of other credit fees). Section 42 has not been amended. The amendment to s 44 does not change the use of the expression “in relation to”.

What has changed in s 44 is the way the section refers to “reasonable standards of commercial practice”.

Under the original form of s 44 “reasonable

standards of commercial practice” was a stand alone consideration. Now, however, it is a consideration that informs the assessment of whether a fee reasonably compensates a creditor for a cost that the fee relates to.

The references in ss 44 and 44A to “reasonable standards of commercial practice” were not contained in the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill as originally introduced. The words were reinserted as a result of the recommendation of the Commerce Committee in its report dated 17 March 2014.

However, the Select Committee report also made it clear that the committee considered that the “reasonable standards of commercial practice” consideration should be subordinate to the principle that credit fees and default fees should only reasonably compensate the creditor. The committee stated that the reasonable standards of commercial practice consideration was not intended to be a separate basis for calculating credit or default fees but only to inform the main test (which concerns costs and losses).

This does give rise to a concern as to how to deal with fees for compulsory services, such as for example a compulsory delivery charge imposed by a supplier of an appliance sold on credit. Such a charge for a compulsory service falls technically within the definition of a credit fee. The Sportzone case did not deal with the question of how to determine the reasonableness of a charge for a compulsory service.

It would certainly be within reasonable standards of commercial practice for an appliance supplier to charge a market rate for a delivery charge. Charging a market rate would also mean applying a reasonable margin above the supplier’s actual costs of undertaking the delivery.

That was permissible under the old former s 44 given the stand alone consideration allowing the court to take account of reasonable standards of commercial practice.

The question is whether charging a market rate for a compulsory service is still permissible under the new wording of s 44.

Arguably it is. The amended s 44 is not as prescriptive as was originally proposed in the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill. The bill as introduced would have required assessment as to whether the amount of the fee exceeded a “reasonable estimate of the creditor’s reasonable average

Law Reform

Law reform report Immigration partnership proposal should not proceed, Law Society says The proposal to partner Immigration New Zealand (INZ) with the immigration professionals industry should not proceed any further, the New Zealand Law Society says.

INZ’s Potential Industry Partnership between INZ and the Immigration Professionals Industry discussion document encompasses INZ’s Vision 2015 of moving to an operating model based on partnerships with industry stakeholders.

The intention is to facilitate INZ sharing risk and benefits with partners to enable faster and more efficient processing of low risk, high quality visa applications.

In its submission, the Law Society says it is strongly in favour of initiatives to improve the quality of applications submitted to INZ and INZ’s service delivery. However, it says there may be alternative proposals that would better advance those aims.

The main concern is rooted in immigration lawyers’ and licensed immigration advisors’ obligations to their clients.

Delegation

The Law Society says the delegation of immigration officers’ assessment tasks and decision-making functions to Trusted Partner immigration lawyers and licensed immigration advisers would place those lawyers and advisers in a conflict of interest position, as they will owe conflicting duties both to their clients and to INZ. Another issue with the proposal is that trusted partner immigration lawyers and licensed immigration advisers would also be conflicted by the need to maintain their trusted partner status.

The Law Society says it is highly problematic that the entry criteria for becoming a trusted partner requires a minimum 90% approval rate for all applications for each of the past five years.

Reasonableness of credit fees costs”. That would have more clearly suggested a calculation based on actual costs.

Now, however, ss 44 and 44A simply refer to “reasonably compensating” the creditor for a cost. It is arguable that simply charging a market rate for a service is no more than is necessary to reasonably compensate the creditor for its cost incurred in providing the

“It will incentivise and reward practitioners who refuse to work for applicants whose cases may be less than gold-plated.

Immigration lawyers cannot refuse to advise and advocate for visa applicants who are not guaranteed approval. Rule 4.1.1(c) of the Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care Rules 2008 provides that lawyers are not entitled to refuse to act because of the merits of the matter upon which the lawyer is consulted,” the Law Society says.

It says the trusted partner proposal, if implemented, could force some immigration lawyers and licensed immigration advisers out of the market purely because they have not entered into a commercial agreement with INZ. A related concern is that the proposal could lead to trusted partners becoming a monopoly provider of all types of immigration services. The status of the “Trusted Partner” brand is likely to be used improperly as a marketing tool, and will have consequences which are not currently anticipated by INZ.

Mediation confidentiality needs to be maintained, Law Society says The integrity of mediation could be fundamentally undermined if mediators are permitted to pass on to enforcement agencies details of employment standards breaches that emerge during confidential mediations, the New Zealand Law Society says.

The Law Society has made a submission on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s discussion document Strengthening Enforcement of Employment Standards, which included a proposal to create an exception for employment standards breaches to the prohibition on mediators reporting information obtained during a mediation.

“Strict mediation confidentiality is afforded to parties in statutory mediation, in recognition that such protection plays an important part in encouraging disputants

Continued... service, particularly when regard is had to reasonable standards of commercial practice.

John Land is a senior competition law specialist and commercial litigation barrister at Bankside Chambers in Auckland. He was formerly a partner of Kensington Swan for 20 years. He can be contacted on (09) 379 1513 or at john.land@bankside.co.nz.

to engage in effective dispute resolution,” Law Society President Chris Moore says.

“It is important for litigants, lawyers and mediators engaging in mediation to do so with certainty and with the assurance that the rules of engagement in mediation will not result in satellite litigation or exposure to prosecution.”

The Law Society submits that the overriding public interest is in the settlement of disputes by maintaining public confidence in the integrity of mediation as an effective dispute resolution process.

“There are other means by which enforcement agencies and parties can deal with breaches of employment standards and so there is no compelling public interest in using mediators for this purpose; certainly not sufficient to justify risking the strong public interest in settlement of disputes,” Mr Moore says.

Recent submissions The Law Society recently filed submissions on: Income Tax, QWB0135 – Scenarios on tax avoidance; GST treatment of bodies corporate; Strengthening Enforcement of Employment Standards; Industry Partnership between INZ and the Immigration Professionals Industry; and Developing Regulations to support the New Health and Safety at Work Act: A discussion document.

The submissions are availa b l e a t w w w. l a w s o c i e t y. o r g . nz/news-and-communications/ law-reform-submissions.

• • • • •

Coming up The Law Society is currently preparing submissions on numerous bills and government discussion documents. Members are welcome to contribute comments to the Law Reform Committee, specialist committees and sections preparing the submissions. For a full list of upcoming submission deadlines and information about how to participate, visit http://my.lawsociety. org.nz/law-reform/work-in-progress.

For more information on New Zealand Law Society law reform activities, contact vicky.stanbridge@ lawsociety.org.nz.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

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CPDcalendar Programme

Presenters

Content

Where

When

CIVIL LItIgatIon & EmPLoymEnt Employment Law Conference

Introduction to High Court Civil Litigation Skills

This “must go to” conference, noted as much for its collegiality as for the high Auckland quality of the business sessions, will once again provide practitioners at all levels of experience an opportunity for two days of stimulating engagement on topics of importance and interest in the employment law field.

13 - 14 Oct

Sandra Grant John Hardie His Hon Judge Joyce QC Nikki Pender Paul Radich Tom Weston QC

This two-day workshop is an excellent opportunity for recently admitted Wellington practitioners to develop practical skills in civil litigation in an intense small-group Auckland 2 workshop. Don’t miss this chance to ensure that you will be able to face a court Christchurch case with confidence! You will improve your advocacy skills while you learn how to handle a single file from beginning to end, be able to identify and understand the various steps in the process, develop the practical skills you need to handle this, and a range of other litigation files, competently and confidently.

20 - 21 Oct 10 - 11 Nov 24 - 25 Nov

Chair: Joanne Hodge

This year’s conference programme covers a wide range of tax matters Auckland with a emphasis on identifying and meeting the technical and practical issues faced by advisers on a daily basis, delivered by an impressive line-up of speakers. Join us for what promises to be an interesting and educational day.

Chair: Her Hon Judge Inglis

13 CPD HRS

9 CPD HRS

ComPany, CommERCIaL & tax tax Conference t

4 Sep

6.5 CPD HRS

CRImInaL Duty Lawyer training Local Presenters Programme

Duty lawyers are critical to the smooth running of a District Court list. Here Visiting is a way to gain more of the knowledge and skills you need to join this centres important group. This workshop is made up of several parts. Visit www. around NZ lawyerseducation.co.nz for full course description, dates and locations.

Aug - Nov

11* CPD HRS

FamILy Understanding mediation – mediation for lawyers Part a

Virginia Goldblatt Geoff Sharp

mediation for Lawyers: Part B – Family Law

Virginia Goldblatt Denise Evans

Surrogacy in new Zealand: the current legal landscape

Margaret Casey

International Surrogacy regulations – where to new Zealand?

Prof Mark Henaghan Jennifer Wademan

Introduction to Family Law advocacy and Practice

His Hon Judge John Adams Usha Patel

Mediation knowledge and skills are an increasingly important adjunct to Auckland 2 legal practice. Many more clients are taking disputes to mediation (because it works) and the more that their legal advisers know about how it works the better. In addition, practice as a mediator extends the service that lawyers can offer the public.

31 Oct - 2 Nov

For those with recent approved prior mediation training, including our Part A Wellington 2 course. This programme will be an opportunity to practise mediation skills in the family law area and then to be assessed on them. Strictly limited numbers with pre-course work required.

22 - 24 Aug

How does the law currently operate in surrogacy cases? How is legal parentage acquired? The webinar will consider; The Status of Children Act; Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act; The Adoption Act; Domestic and cross-border surrogacy cases.

25 Aug

How does the law currently operate in surrogacy cases? How is legal parentage acquired? What should you know about the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act, the Status of Children Act and the Adoption Act? This webinar will explore the current state of the law as it applies to both domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.

Family lawyers who missed the International Adoption and Surrogacy conference in April, should make this a priority.

Webinar

15 CPD HRS

15 CPD HRS

1 CPD HR Webinar

28 Sep

1 CPD HR

In following through a case you will learn how to master the core tasks, Christchurch methods, strategies and documentary and non-documentary procedures Wellington you need to know if you are to represent your client in a competent and Auckland professional manner. Through precedents, videos, a book of materials, and performance critique, this course, recommended by the Legal Services Agency, is sound, participatory and proven. Updated to include New Family Justice System changes.

6-7 Oct 9-10 Oct 13-14 Oct

13 CPD HRS

PRoPERty LaW Sale and Purchase of apartments – what’s trending now?

Debra Dorrington Ivan McIntosh

Apartments provide the opportunity to purchase a property in a relatively central location, and suit many people’s lifestyles. There are, however, a number of issues to consider when providing clients with advice on the sale and purchase of apartments. This practical webinar will be focused on ensuring that you are able to effectively guide your clients through the process of buying or selling an apartment.

Webinar

26 Aug

1 CPD HR

Online registration and booklet purchases (with cheque, direct credit and credit card payment options) available at www.lawyerseducation.co.nz

34

· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

Online registration and payment can be made at www.lawyerseducation.co.nz

Programme

Presenters

Content

Where

Scrutinising the actions of government

Chair: The Hon Justice Clifford

Government and private sector decision-makers have recently been Christchurch challenged by unexpected and unpredictable major events in New Zealand. Wellington This intensive will examine how central and local Government have addressed the resultant range of complex public law issues, including the question of the third source of authority.

When

PUBLIC LaW 24 Sep 25 Sep

6 CPD HRS

PRaCtICE & PRoFESSIonaL SkILLS Stepping Up – foundation for practising on own account

Director: John Mackintosh

trust account Supervisor training Programme mediation – how to influence the outcome

All lawyers wishing to practise on their own account, whether alone, in Wellington partnership, in an incorporated practice or as a barrister, will be required to Auckland 3 complete this course. (Note: From 1 October 2012 all lawyers applying to be barristers sole are required to complete Stepping Up). Developed with the support of the New Zealand Law Foundation.

4 - 6 Sep 6 - 8 Nov

Jeremy Kennerley David Littlefair David Chapman Bob Eades Lindsay Lloyd

To qualify as a trust account supervisor, you must complete 40-55 hours’ Wellington preparation, attend the assessment day and pass all assessments.

Auckland 2 Christchurch

18 Sep 19 Nov 26 Nov

Lady Deborah Chambers QC Helen Rice

Mediation has become a preferred way of resolving legal disputes. This seminar provides a proven roadmap leading to better preparation that will enhance your understanding of your clients’ interests and the mediation process. This approach will positively influence the outcome for your clients.

18.5 CPD HRS

8 CPD HRS Dunedin Christchurch Wellington Auckland Webinar

13 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 13 Nov 21 Oct

2.5 CPD HRS Logic for Lawyers

Prof Douglas Lind

Most lawyers’ logical intuitions are strong enough to permit smooth navigation Wellington most of the time through webs of complex legal arguments without error. Still, Auckland unfamiliarity with logic and forms of argument limits a lawyer’s analytical oversight. This makes him or her vulnerable to committing or overlooking mistakes of reasoning that can affect the outcome of cases. Attend this workshop to learn a practical framework and gain specific analytical tools for working with legal arguments.

20 Oct 23 Oct

21 Oct

advanced Logic for Lawyers

Prof Douglas Lind

At the request of lawyers who have attended the Logic for Lawyers workshop Wellington an Advanced workshop is offered. This workshop includes a refresher on the basic principles of inductive and deductive reasoning covered in the standard programme, and goes well beyond that workshop in argument detail and practical application. If you are tantalised by how understanding logic and principles of argument enhances a lawyer’s skill in everyday legal practice, this workshop is for you.

Reading accounts and Balance Sheets

Lloyd Austin

While it is not necessary for you to have the financial insight that might be expected of an accountant, you should know how financial statements are put together and know how to ask the right questions and identify warning signs, discuss financial statements intelligently with a client, and know when to call in specialist assistance.

This workshop will enable you to unlock the mysteries of financial documents.

Lawyer as negotiator

Jane Chart

Auckland Hamilton Wellington Christchrurch

Building on your own experience, this one-and-a-half day workshop provides Wellington 2 hands-on practice and feedback, as well as a conceptual framework for Auckland 2 preparing for and undertaking negotiations. It examines different strategies and tactics, and offers tools for dealing with difficult negotiators, breaking impasses, and for addressing specific issues which you might wish to raise.

5 CPD HRS

5 CPD HRS 4-5 Nov 10-11 Nov 17-18 Nov 19-20 Nov

7 CPD HRS

11 - 12 Nov 18 - 19 Nov

11.5 CPD HRS

RURaL LaW Rural Law – the big issues Intensive

Chair: Chris Spargo

Resource management act Reform – is there an environmental bias

Nicky MacIndoe Andrea Rickard

This one-day intensive will present in-depth discussions on current issues Christchurch concerning rural practitioners, including an overview and analysis of irrigation Hamilton schemes and related resource consents, a Fonterra update, syndications, horticultural issues and death and wills in the rural context.

10 Sep 12 Sep

5.5 CPD HRS

In SHoRt SEmInaR SERIES – aUCkLanD The proposed reforms of the Resource Management Act have provoked a Auckland lively debate; some allege that urban and infrastructure development will be constrained by an inappropriate focus on the environment; others seek broader protection for New Zealand’s natural resources. This seminar examines case studies and recent decisions relating to this debate.

18 Sep

2 CPD HRS

*CPD HRS may vary – please see brochure on website Brochures for CLE programmes are distributed with LawTalk. If you have not received a brochure for any of the programmes listed, please see www.lawyerseducation.co.nz or email cle@lawyerseducation.co.nz or contact CLE information, tel 0800 333 111.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

35

Lawyers Complaints Service

Struck off for failing to honour undertaking Christopher Giddens has been struck off after he admitted that he failed to honour an undertaking.

The New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Giddens, who now lives in Australia, guilty of misconduct in [2014] NZLCDT 40.

The undertaking was provided on behalf of Mr Giddens by his attorney during his absence overseas. It provided that $50,000 from the proceeds of a property sale would be held in his firm’s trust account for access and services to an adjacent property.

The undertaking was in favour of a bank, which was releasing a security regarding the property to complete the sale. The funds secured by the undertaking were intended to be used to rectify an access problem over an adjacent property, over which the bank also held security.

The undertaking provided that the funds would not be disbursed without the consent of the bank and that copies of invoices for work completed would be submitted to the bank for approval.

In evidence, Mr Giddens’ legal executive said that leading up to the settlements she had contacted him to inform him of what was agreed between the bank and solicitors for the estate. On Mr Giddens’ instructions she asked the attorney to sign the undertaking on Mr Giddens’ behalf. The funds were then held in trust.

The legal executive said she drew the undertaking to Mr Giddens’ attention on his return from overseas. However in September 2008 Mr Giddens asked her to arrange for $10,000 to be transferred from the fund for his fees. The legal executive reminded Mr

Giddens of the undertaking, but the fees were deducted despite that. She also confirmed that another staff member had drawn the undertaking to Mr Giddens’ attention.

“Over the course of the next few months almost $40,000 of the $50,000 required to be held was paid to the practitioner on account of his fees,” the Tribunal said. “The practitioner did not challenge the evidence of [the legal executive]. In his formal response to the charges, however, he stated that the funds had been taken by way of ‘an oversight’.

“The only fees invoice in respect of this $40,000 appears to be one for $2,500.”

In further evidence, a Hamilton lawyer involved with litigation concerning the estate provided a copy of an email from Mr Giddens which instructed the legal executive to take the $10,000 from the fund.

“The email states that the $10,000 is to come: ‘ …From the funds we are holding for banks and transfer it to the office account.

I am fed up with waiting for this matter to be resolved so I can be paid. You should be able to get the bank to be able to put the wages through for today and tomorrow’.

“This email,” the Tribunal said, “was particularly telling concerning the practitioner’s state of mind and whether he could possibly, in the face of this, credibly maintain that the withdrawal of funds from this account for his benefit was in any way an oversight.

“It clearly was not and what is also apparent from this email is that the practitioner’s practice was in a fairly difficult state financially and the funds were required in order to pay wages.”

In this instance there was a clear undertaking which had a clear purpose “and we accept

the submission of the [lawyers] standards committee that it is plainly disgraceful and dishonourable for the practitioner to ignore the undertaking and pay the bulk of the funds to himself.

“It is axiomatic that banks must be able to rely on solicitor’s undertakings as inviolate.

Mr Giddens’ behavior in this matter may well have seriously undermined the confidence of the bank with which he was dealing, and fellow practitioners, in the sanctity of such undertakings.

“If we are wrong that this is disgraceful or dishonourable, the alternative limb of misconduct is established by the flagrant flouting of Rule 10.2” of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008. Rule 10.3 provides that a lawyer must honour all undertakings.

“We reject the practitioner’s explanation, which has not even been provided on oath, that the payments out were as a result of an oversight,” the Tribunal said.

“We consider the deliberate or wilfully blind flouting of an undertaking and payment of funds held, for personal gain, to be a particularly serious form of misconduct.”

In addition, as well as acting as solicitor in the transaction giving rise to the complaint, he was also a trustee of the estate that had sold the property.

Thus there was an additional fiduciary relationship which he breached when the funds were paid out to meet his own fees, rather than being retained to undertake the work required to perfect the trust’s ownership.

As well as the strike off, the Tribunal ordered Mr Giddens to pay $9,685 standards committee costs and $1,810 Tribunal costs.

Lawyer who left NZ while facing serious driving charges suspended Michaela Greaney has been censured and suspended from practice for two years from 9 July 2013, the date she was removed from the register of practising lawyers, after she left New Zealand while facing serious driving charges.

By leaving the country, Ms Greaney failed

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· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

to appear in court to answer those charges and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.

The Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal, in [2014] NZLCDT 42, has found Ms Greaney guilty of misconduct, in that she engaged in conduct unconnected with providing regulated services but which

would justify a finding that she is not a fit and proper person or is otherwise unsuited to engage in practice as a lawyer.

On 29 May 2013, Ms Greaney was arrested and charged with refusing a Police officer’s request for a blood specimen and driving in a dangerous manner. The following day she

Lawyers Complaints Service

Strike off follows drug convictions Former Police prosecutor Brent William Thomson of Auckland has been struck off after he was convicted of using and possessing methamphetamine and possessing cannabis.

In [2014] NZLCDT 38 the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Thomson guilty of misconduct, as he had been convicted of offences punishable by imprisonment and the convictions tended to reflect on his fitness to practise or tended to bring the profession into disrepute.

Mr Thomson pleaded guilty to the three drugs charges he faced, and was convicted and fined $150 on each charge in January 2014.

“The concerning aspect of the offending, other than its inherent seriousness and obvious questions it raises as to Mr Thomson’s personal functioning, is that at the time he was employed as a Police prosecutor, undoubtedly prosecuting offenders for similar offences,” the Tribunal said.

“The hypocrisy of that and the manner in which it reflected on the New Zealand Police was considered to be an aggravating feature by the sentencing judge …

“Furthermore, the practitioner also posted two videos of himself on a website which depicted him injecting himself with a syringe,

referring to it as ‘slamming’ (a slang term for intravenous use of methamphetamine).

There were also blog entries which talked about this illegal drug use.

“Unsurprisingly, the offending attracted some publicity which connected him with the legal profession,” the Tribunal said.

Mr Thomson indicated that he was fully prepared to abide by any decision of the Tribunal. He subsequently filed submissions stating that strike off would be “appropriate”.

The submission also said: “Counsel for the [lawyers standards] committee has, in my view been moderate and even-handed in submissions. Counsel for the committee does not go as far to say, but I submit that there is a positive benefit in making an order striking me off, in that it would show a robust response by way of example to others in my position”.

Although Mr Thomson did not oppose strike off and indeed his submissions urged it, that was not an end to the matter, the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal still must unanimously determine that “the practitioner is, by reason of his or her conduct, not a fit and proper person to be a practitioner”.

Two aggravating features were the fact that Mr Thomson was a Police prosecutor

and that he made social media posts demonstrating the drug use.

An additional factor in this case was the absence of material before the Tribunal to make an informed assessment of when Mr Thomson might be fit to practice again.

“It is submitted that given Mr Thomson’s acknowledgement that he is not currently fit to practise, the Tribunal is left with no option but to prevent him from practising indefinitely and this can only occur by strike off.

“The Tribunal accepts that submission but gives credit to the practitioner for his co-operative approach and his frankness with his professional body, the Police and court system, and his previous clean disciplinary record.

“However, we consider that the circumstances of his offending and the aggravating features noted are such that no penalty short of strike off will properly reflect the seriousness or protect the public in the absence of reliable material to suggest another rehabilitative course,” the Tribunal said.

As well as the strike off, the Tribunal ordered Mr Thomson to pay $1,200 standards committee costs and $500 Tribunal costs.

was suspended from driving and released on Police bail.

On 25 June 2013 she was arrested and charged with driving while suspended and having been served with the information on 25 June, she left New Zealand on 5 July 2013 without having faced any of those three charges.

Subsequently, in the two courts where the informations had been laid warrants for her arrest were issued.

Submissions on behalf of the lawyers standards committee relied primarily on Ms Greaney’s conduct subsequent to the alleged criminal driving.

“That is proper in our view,” the Tribunal said, “because we do not consider it correct for us to comment on the behaviour leading to the laying of the driving charges in order not to prejudice any rights she may have to

ultimately defend the charges should she return to New Zealand.

“We have focused on the behaviour of the lawyer subsequent to being faced with those charges and failing to answer them as she is obliged. It is submitted that this is conduct which renders her not fit and proper to practise.”

The standards committee submitted: “That it evidences a fundamental disregard of legal obligations, it is inconsistent with the integrity expected of the legal profession, and her conduct and attitude shows a lack of respect for the justice system, which is a breach of her obligations as an officer of the court and, in summary, affects the public’s confidence in the profession as a whole”.

“We accept those submissions,” the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal noted that Ms Greany had

engaged “to a certain extent” with the standards committee process. “Indeed, we have considered the reasonably lengthy submissions she provided to the standards committee.”

However, despite having been served, she had taken no steps in the Tribunal proceedings.

Although the misconduct was serious, it did not involve dishonesty, the Tribunal noted. It was not offending related to regulated services so no client had been harmed by it.

“However the profession’s reputation has clearly been harmed by the publicity which followed upon Ms Greaney’s departure from New Zealand without having faced these charges.”

As well as the censure and suspension, the Tribunal ordered Ms Greaney to pay $8,805.02 standards committee costs and $2,215 Tribunal costs.

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

37

Lawyers Complaints Service

Strict adherence to Nominee Company Rules required The Legal Complaints Review Officer (LCRO) has ordered a lawyer, C, to pay $5,000 to a Ms D who had invested funds personally and through her family trust into C’s firm’s nominee company.

In LCRO 278/2012, the LCRO considered whether adherence to the Nominee Company Rules is a requirement of strict liability and the nature of the relationship between a contributor to the nominee company and its “responsible” lawyer.

The LCRO reversed a standards committee decision to take no further action, deciding that C was guilty of unsatisfactory conduct.

Ms D was employed as a legal executive in the firm of which C was a partner. C was also the lawyer responsible for the nominee company as designated under the applicable Nominee Company Rules.

Ms D was a trustee of her parents’ trust (C was the other trustee) and was approached by the firm’s accounts section to invest in an advance to a company. She was provided with a valuation of the proposed security – two sections on a hill area.

A number of investments were made by the trust, totalling $108,000. In addition, both Ms D and her husband invested sums personally in the mortgage.

The loan was due for repayment in June 2008, by which time Ms D had left the employ of C’s firm. The mortgage was not repaid and a Property Law Act notice was issued in July, expiring on 21 August 2008. Interest payments also ceased.

The sections were put up for tender but did not sell. Since then, the sections have become inaccessible due to the earthquakes in Christchurch and remain unsold.

A Law Society inspector identified various rule breaches, including failures to obtain specific authorities and to follow default procedures. When a lawyers standards committee considered the inspector’s report closely, it determined that C’s administration of the nominee mortgage involved a number of administrative lapses and careless mistakes. However, the conduct did not amount to unsatisfactory conduct, the standards committee found.

The LCRO looked at breaches of the applicable rules.

In its determination, the standards committee had reflected the inspector’s

38

· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

comments in a number of places in his report where he came to the view that the irregularities were excusable, the LCRO said.

The LCRO said he did not question the inspector’s expertise but said: “I consider that standards committees should insist on strict compliance with the [Nominee Company] Rules.

“The history of lawyers’ nominee companies has been troubled and the rules have been developed in a prescriptive manner to protect contributors as much as possible.

“I do not consider that there is any room for the exercise of a discretion in determining whether or not the rules have been breached,” the LCRO said. Breaches of the rules should result in a finding of unsatisfactory conduct in the majority of cases.

The LCRO indicated to the parties that he also wished to discuss the broader issue of whether a lawyer-client relationship existed with contributors and the resulting obligations on C. In relation to Ms D’s complaint that C had breached a duty to investors, the LCRO said that “a lawyer cannot disclaim all responsibility for ensuring the proposal is sound” when putting a lending proposal before contributors.

In the present case, C had a duty “to at least provide the contributors with sufficient information to enable them to make an informed decision and in this regard, I do not think he met his obligations”.

Relevant facts underlying this finding were: the request for funding had been submitted by a broker, the relevance being that funding was reasonably available at the time and if it was necessary for a borrower to engage the services of a broker it was an indicator that the borrower may not have been a good risk; the limited inquiry about the borrower made

by C (limited to a telephone call to another solicitor whose firm had previously been involved with lending to the borrower); the fact that the director of the company had been adjudicated bankrupt previously; from the inception of the loan to the due date, the borrower made payment on time on only two occasions (this information being relevant when further funds were contributed to the loan); and that the nominee company would be obliged to pay GST on any funds realised

•

• • • •

from the sale of the property.

“A reasonably prudent lender would have been reluctant to commit funds (or more funds) if any one of these factors had been known,” the LCRO said.

“I do not seek to impose an unreasonable duty of care on a lawyer who puts a proposal before contributors to a nominee company advance, but I do not accept that a lawyer can disclaim all responsibility. I consider that the practitioner did not meet this limited duty of care to [Ms D].”

The fact that C had a duty of care to Ms D and that Ms D was a client in terms of the funds advanced was made “quite clear” by the Associate Judge in Hole v Sneddon [2012] NZHC 1907, the LCRO said.

The Associate Judge said: “Arguably it was unwise to advise (and in this context an invitation from a lawyer to his client to invest with the lawyers’ nominee company must amount to the lawyer having given those clients ‘advice’) [emphasis added] his clients when the valuation provided no more than a hypothetical value of the land at some future time”.

“The Associate Judge makes it quite clear by this comment that when a lawyer puts an investment proposal to a potential contributor, the lawyer is giving advice to the client, and the potential contributor is a client for those purposes,” the LCRO said.

In considering the consequence of the breaches found, the LCRO was required to consider the transitional provisions of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (LCA).

As noted in an earlier case, negligent breaches of the Nominee Company Rules before 1 August 2008 had to involve negligence of such a degree as to reflect on the lawyer’s fitness to practise or as to bring the profession into disrepute before an adverse disciplinary finding could be made.

The LCRO did not consider that the irregularities identified by the inspector met this threshold. However, the breach of C’s duties to investors amounted to the pre-LCA standard of conduct unbecoming and therefore was unsatisfactory conduct.

C’s conduct after 1 August 2008, after the mortgagor’s default, was found to be a breach of the Nominee Company Rules and constituted unsatisfactory conduct.

As well as ordering C to pay compensation of $5,000 to Ms D, The LCRO ordered C to pay the Law Society $1,600 costs.

The LCRO’s decision is available at www.justice. govt.nz/tribunals/legal-complaints-review-officer/ decisions-1/2014-decisions-1/2014-decisions.

WI LLS

Coming up...

STA N I S L AU S S Z A R E C K I

AMINZ Conference The 2014 Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand Conference will be held in Queenstown from 28 to 30 August.

The conference theme is Looking Forward. See https://www.aminz.org.nz/ Category?Action=View&Category_id=853.

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, who died on 29 June 2014 in Upper Hutt, aged 73 years, please contact Mary C Jeffcoat, Barrister & Solicitor: mcjeffcoat@xtra.co.nz Ph 04 473 9022 | Fax 04 473 9024 PO Box 5579, Wellington 6145

J O H N WAY N E M A R S H A L L Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 73 Liffey Street, Bluff, sickness beneficiary, born on 8 December 1950, who died on 17 July 2014, please contact Allan Matthew Marshall (brother) or Maea Elizabeth Marshall (sister-in-law): maeamarshall@clear.net.nz Ph 07 847 7695 (home) 0r 027 277 5014 (Allan) 131 Forest Lake Road, Hamilton 3200

ADMISSION

G R A N T W I L L I A M PA L M E R

Under Part 3 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 AUSTIN Kate Margaret Hope BARKLE Clara Maude DUTKIEWICZ Marianne Joan EVANS Nicole Jade GRABNER-THORNLEY Nadja Anna GRIEVE Jaxon James HANDS Julie Corrin HILLS David Robert JACKSON Erin Victoria LEE Angela Joy McCALLUM Yvonne Leeanne MEAD Sarah Leslie MULHOLLAND Ashleigh Barbara NICHOLSON Mark Cecil ODGERS Aileen Marie formerly RODGERS Aileen Marie formerly POW Aileen Marie formerly MUNRO Aileen Marie

PHILLIPS Heidi Jane Quigley RICHARDS Amber Brooke SMIT Matthew Josiah STRACHAN Kathryn Angela TRANTER Victoria Jayne WELCH Sarah Margaret WHATMAN Charles Peter Edward

APPROVAL TO PRACTISE ON OWN ACCOUNT Under s30 of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 BALTAKMENS Dagny Karin BARKER Katherine Michelle MILLER Mark William MURRAY Paul Cecil SOMERSET Lisa Helen SYMON Stephen Paul

Comments concerning the suitability of any of the above-named applicants for the certificate or approval being sought should be made in writing to me by 21 August 2014. Any submissions should be given on the understanding that they may be disclosed to the candidate.

The Registry is now advertising names of candidates for certificates of character, practising certificates and approvals to practise on own account on the NZLS website at www.lawsociety.org.nz/for-lawyers/law-society-registry/applications-for-approval.

renee@pierlaw.co.nz Ph 03 327 0590 | Fax 03 327 0591 PO Box 377, Kaiapoi 7644

M U R R AY J A M E S D I C K Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 26 Archibald Road, Kelston, Auckland, who died on the 14th or 15th July 2014, please contact Bob Burnes, Robert Burnes & Associates: bob@robertburnes.co.nz Ph 09 379 8811 | Fax 09 379 8812 | DX CP26007 PO Box 7343, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141

AROHA MOANA ANDERSON Would any lawyer holding a will for the abovenamed (nee Kerekere), late of Auckland, Home Executive, who died on 6 November 2012, please contact Davies Law: kamelia@davieslaw.co.nz Ph 09 529 1520 | Fax 09 826 2671 | DX CP31030 PO Box 113-010, Newmarket, Auckland 1149

ROSALIND ANNE AICKIN

LISA AT T R I L L , R EG I ST RY M A N AGER lisa.attrill@lawsociety.org.nz 04 463 2916 0800 22 30 30, 04 463 2989

WI LL S

A S R I T H E L M A PA R K I N S O N

LINUS ANTHONY MCDERMOTT

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named nee Candy, formerly of Huntly and late of Hamilton, Teacher, who died on or about 18 June 2014, aged 31 years, please contact Annice Wood, Gurnell Harrison Law:

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of New Zealand, who died on 24 June 2014 at Tiapapata, Samoa, please contact Christina Keil, Keil & Associates:

annice@ghlaw.co.nz | Ph 07 839 7632 | Fax 07 838 0818 | PO Box 9097, Hamilton 3240

christina@keil-law.co.nz Ph 09 379 9898 | Fax 09 379 9897 PO Box 8124, Symonds Street, Auckland 1150

M A N I S H K U M A R K A D I YA

ARCHILL WILLIAMS

Would any lawyer holding a will for the abovenamed, late of Mt Eden, Auckland, Customer Service Representative, born on 30 August 1980, who died on 9 July 2014, please contact Cleone Campbell, Shieff Angland:

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, formerly of 27/19 Brodie Place, Bethlehem, Tauranga, who died on 30 June 2014 at Waikato Hospital, please contact Geoff Levy, Rutherford Legal Limited:

cleone.campbell@shieffangland.co.nz Ph 09 300 8760 | PO Box 2180, Auckland 1140

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 14 Kain Street, Pines Beach, North Canterbury, Plasterer, born on 18 October 1968, who died on 6 July 2014, please contact Renee Powell of Pier Law:

geoff.levy@neumegenlaw.co.nz Ph 09 300 1835 | Fax 09 379 4174 PO Box 5968, Auckland 1141

Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, who died at Rotorua between 1st and 14th day of July 2014, please contact Malcolm S Lake: malcolmlake@xtra.co.nz Ph 07 349 4348 | Fax 07 349 2698 1140 Tutanekai Street, PO Box 560, Rotorua 3040

JOHN AROIHI BARBER Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of Moerewa, born on 8 April 1941, who died on 3 July 2014, please contact Cass Hayward, Mathews Perry Lawyers: cass@mplaw.co.nz | Ph 09 437 3070 | Fax 09 437 2070 | PO Box 8010, Kensington, Whangarei 0145

H E AT H E R M A RY E D M O N D S - PA R K E S Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, aka Heather Mary McKenzie, born on 29 August 1955, who died on 13 April 2014, please contact John McDowell, Barrister & Solcitor: johnmcdowell@clear.net.nz | Ph 06 833 6543 | Fax 06 833 6324 | PO Box 636, Napier 4140

LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

39

WI L L S

S I T UAT I O N S VACA N T

NORMA JUNE ANTHONY Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, nee Saunders, late of 5 Derrett Place, Mangere Bridge, Auckland, born on 22 June 1938, who died on 23 September 2007 aged 69 years, please contact Delamere Gleeson, Daniel Overton & Goulding: del@doglaw.co.nz | Ph 09 622 2222 | Fax 09 634 2148 | PO Box 13017, Onehunga, Auckland 1643 | DX EP71005

STUART ANDREWS Would any lawyer holding a will for the above-named, late of 7A Forster Place, West Harbour, Auckland, Broadcast Engineer, born on 26 May 1953, who died on 20 March 2014, please contact Bryce Williams, Gibson Sheat Lawyers: bryce.williams@gibsonsheat.com | Ph 04 916 6436 | Fax 04 569 4874 | DX RP42008 | Private Bag 31905, Lower Hutt 5040

WANTED TO BUY

BARRISTERS GOW N Lawyers would like to purchase a second hand Barristers Gown – must be in good condition.

Please contact us directly at reception@tdsl.co.nz, or telephone Julie or Jocelyn on 04 570 0442 TO L E ASE

Eldon Chambers

Level 1, 5 High Street, Auckland Room available in the chambers of barristers Paul David QC and Peter Andrew.

Barristers’ areas of practice include commercial litigation, maritime law, public law and sports law.

Please telephone 09 379 9354 or email: reception@eldonchambers.net if you would like to see the room.

SI TUATIONS VAC ANT

Senior Commercial Lawyer 5+ years PQE at growing mid-sized Christchurch/North Canterbury law firm We are looking for someone wanting to advance their career in a successful medium sized Christchurch/North Canterbury based law firm. The ideal applicant will have 5 plus years PQE and would be working closely with two partners handling a variety of commercial and property work for our large client base.

You will be involved with a broad commercial mix including residential and commercial property transactions, business transactions and rural work. The role requires a commitment to excellence and attention to detail. You will work with existing clients and develop those relationships as well as having the opportunity to progress other areas of practice.

Corcoran French is a medium sized law firm with offices in Christchurch City and Kaiapoi in North Canterbury, employing approximately 50 staff. The firm is well regarded for the quality of services that it delivers to it's client's. We encourage and expect honesty, integrity and high standards.

This is an excellent opportunity for an applicant with a strong work ethic and teamwork skills to develop their career to the next level. Strong career progression opportunities are available for the right person to join a well structured firm that values its clients and it's staff.

We welcome your application along with your curriculum vitae which can be sent to:

SENIOR PROPERTY SOLICITOR An opportunity has arisen for a dynamic and driven lawyer with 5+ years PQE in property and/or general practice who has some client base of their own to join our busy Auckland team. We are a boutique property and commercial firm with offices in Auckland CBD and Warkworth.

We offer interesting and challenging work in a fun and supportive environment where your talents will be celebrated and the sky is the limit.

If you are passionate about the law, have a positive outlook and always strive for excellence then please send your CV and cover letter in confidence to: stephanie@ppetal.co.nz.

40

Commercial Solicitor

· LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014

The General Manager Steve Fraser PO Box 13001 Christchurch 8141 Email: steve@corcoranfrench.co.nz

SI TUATIONS VAC ANT

Holland Beckett is a progressive and growing full service law firm committed to excellence with offices located in Tauranga, Rotorua,Whakatane & Opotoki.We are looking for exceptional individuals to join our busy practice in the following roles:

Senior Property / Commercial Solicitors

P ROP E RT Y S OL I CI TOR & L E GAL E XE CUT I VE

1 role in Tauranga & 1 role in Whakatane

Senior Relationship Property Solicitor Tauranga

Legal Executive Tauranga

The successful candidates will have at least 4 years experience from reputable firms, with excellent technical skills, a passion for law and a desire to add real value to every client interaction.

In return, we offer award winning premises, varied and challenging work, and the opportunity to work with quality clients. We provide ongoing training and professional development along with a range of fantastic social opportunities.

If you are seeking an opportunity to take the next step in your legal career, whilst creating a wonderful lifestyle in the Bay of Plenty, then you need to apply now!

Send your cover letter, a copy of your CV and academic transcript to amanda.russo@hobec.co.nz

L AW Y ER COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Brown Partners is a boutique corporate law firm in Auckland. We are looking for an outstanding lawyer with 2–4 years commercial property experience to join our thriving practice in Shortland Street.

We are inviting applications from first class lawyers who wish to work for a mix of high quality New Zealand and overseas clients across a wide and interesting spectrum of work.

The right candidate will enjoy a high level of client contact and responsibility and be involved in diverse and challenging work within a small, supportive and close knit team with a culture of high performance and integrity.

The successful applicant will have outstanding legal and communication skills, an impressive academic and career track record, and have an enthusiasm for operating at a high level across a broad spectrum of work.

If you would like to become part of our team please contact John Brown on 09 302 9312 or email your CV in confidence to john.brown@brownpartners.co.nz.

SOLICITOR · PROPERTY TEAM Gresson Dorman & Co is seeking a solicitor to meet the demands of an expanding property client base.

This is an exciting opportunity with excellent career prospects for the right person.

We are ideally looking for an applicant with 2 to 4 years PQE, with a background in rural, commercial and residential conveyancing essential and familiarity with trusts and estates an advantage.

LEGAL EXECUTIVE · PROPERTY TEAM We are also seeking to recruit a qualified Legal Executive with significant rural and residential conveyancing experience, ready to hit the ground running in support of our very busy property team.

Gresson Dorman & Co is a leading South Canterbury general practice firm with offices in Timaru and Geraldine and clients nationwide. We offer modern well-equipped offices with excellent resources. The positions are permanent, and based in our Timaru office. Ideally the positions are full-time but we are prepared to consider flexible arrangements.

South Canterbury currently has one of the strongestperforming economies in the country. The region offers fantastic lifestyle opportunities, affordable housing and excellent schooling options.

We can offer you: • Interesting and varied work within a firm that encourages and expects high standards • Commitment to your ongoing professional development and mentoring from experienced partners.

Please forward your curriculum vitae and covering letter stating which position you are interested in to: The Practice Manager, Gresson Dorman & Co PO Box 24, Timaru 7940 barbara@gressons.co.nz LawTalk 848 · 15 August 2014 ·

41

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